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Andrew Kay heads inland to find out more about the cheese at High Weald Dairy

When I first moved to Brighton 22 years ago, my biggest disappointment was the food shopping. Brighton had very few great food outlets and apart from a good out-of-town farm shop very little local produce. I was lucky enough to be commuting back then so I would pile back on the train with bags of groceries. How things have changed. Now Brighton has become foodie heaven with plenty of great food retailers and lots of local produce to choose from, especially cheese. I buy most of mine from Francesca at Brampton’s in Kemp Town Village and it was there that I first tasted St Giles, which is made by the High Weald Dairy. It has become a firm favourite and so have many of their other cheeses so I decided to go out there and meet them to find out more. Read the rest of this article »

A week of Japanese food and culture as Moshi Moshi host the Brighton Japan Festival

Brighton will be turning Japanese on 17 June as the 10-day Brighton Japan Festival gets underway. Now in its third year, the festival has grown to include some of the most prestigious venues the city has to offer, including the Duke Of York’s Picturehouse and Brighton Dome.

The festival is the brainchild of Karl Jones and Nicholas Röhl, owners of Brighton’s leading Japanese restaurant, Moshi Moshi. Most of the events are taking place in front of the restaurant in Bartholomew Square in a specially erected marquee called the Festival Hub.

A quick look at the listings of the Festival Hub will raise a cheer from all those still ruing the absence of the Spiegeltent from the May festival. Moshi Moshi has, not for the first time, punched above its weight to bring something truly special to Brighton. “We ran away with ourselves a little on this one,” says Karl Jones, who admits that Moshi Moshi has spent quite a lot of money on the festival. “It just got bigger and bigger and before we knew it, we were talking about a festival with over 25 events over eight days! It all started as a one day street festival three years ago.”
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Andrew Kay returns to old favourite Indian Summer to try the new lunch menu

When Indian Summer first opened it was a breath of fresh air. At that point the country was still dominated by high street tandooris that for the most part were serving drab Bengali food that was gradually losing all sense of ethnic authenticity.

Curry was meat in brown spicy gravy that came in varying degrees of heat, from the blandly creamy to the searingly hot. It was time for a revolution and Indian Summer, while not necessarily starting it, were certainly waving the banner.

Proprietors Minesh and Byron had a clear vision that Indian food was ready for change. Between them they made that change, Minesh introducing dishes from his childhood, the food that his mother and grandmother made.
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Andrew Kay starts a season of theatre and food at The Brasserie in The Park in Chichester

Restaurants in theatres are a hit and miss affair, not unlike the
plays that they stage.

They seem to fall into two categories, the over ambitious and the under-ambitious, but at Chichester they
seem to have found a winning formula that draws an extremely loyal following of pre- and post-show diners.
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