Cook it! Sunny side of the street

The man behind the original Hove Kitchen returns

I first met Ben Ranger when he took over the ailing restaurant in myHotel. He was instrumental in turning round the fortunes of the, at that time, blighted venue. So when it closed for a second time there was a real sense of disappointment. Table had become a favourite, great value and great atmosphere.

He bounced back with The Hove Kitchen and again it became a popular haunt, great food and a real family vibe that did not spoil it for those of us without kids either. When it closed I was sad – after all, the chef did at that time make the only decent eggs Benedict in town and his shoestring fries were positively addictive.

Ben was in search of a place to buy though, and not to rent, and once again he moved on hoping to find that place. That he has done and now he has opened Avenue in Church Road, Hove. I took a sneaky peek in the window a few weeks back and it looked good, but before I could really study the menu I was spotted, and as I did not want to eat I smiled, tapped my watch and made a sad face. But it did prompt me to go back, and go back soon.

I took a punt. I was right to do so

In fact I was there two days later, a Friday evening, and I arrived at 6.30pm, half an hour before my friend Ms C. That was good, it gave me time to slip into their new upper floor cocktail bar and sample the work of mixologist Paul. Good work too as he loves to create drinks to suit the customer’s tastes, and he made me a very nice and very dry gin based drink. I was very happy.

When Ms C arrived we went downstairs to dine.

The menu is all new. Ben’s original chef has moved on but his replacement has worked at Terre à Terre, one of the city’s most exacting kitchens, and is clearly talented. Ms C started with prosciutto salad with figs, rocket and an elderberry balsamic dressing. It looked good and generous too. I chose the arancini eggs with pumpkin jam and pea shoots. I love arancini so it was an easy choice, but when I saw how expertly these had been made I was amazed. The risotto balls were fried to a perfect golden yellow, but inside the quail’s eggs were amazing with soft runny yolks, it looked wonderful and tasted beautiful.

Ms C moved on to steak for her main and chose a rump, medium rare, with a mushroom sauce. How she loved that mushroom sauce, she waxed lyrical about it throughout the meal from that point and even continued in the car as we drove home. I tasted it – not a lot as I did not wish to risk losing a limb!

I decided that I was in the mood for a simple dish and the offer of roast chicken with chips and aioli struck exactly the right chord. The half chicken came as two glistening and expertly dressed pieces, leg and thigh and breast, real knife skills at work, and it was crisp skinned but succulent inside. The chips were good too, crisp out and fluffy inside … yes I can see a thread of crisp out and fluffy in appearing here. Anyway, I loved my chicken and especially the very good aioli which had just the right amount of garlic punch.

I was probably too full for dessert but it would have been rude to leave Ms C to eat alone. She had chosen a sticky fig pudding with a butterscotch sauce which she liked, especially the sauce. She did suggest that figs perhaps offered less ‘sticky’ than the conventional date recipe, but declared it good all the same.

I chose the honey roast pear crumble with chestnuts and oats topped with vanilla ice-cream. I’m not normally a crumble fan, a bad teenage experience at the hands of a friend’s mother who made something that looked like a lava flow and was about the same temperature. Somehow though, this combination of ingredients appealed, so I took a punt. I was right to do so, it was absolutely delicious. Paul then send me a Rob Roy, a hearty cocktail to finish the evening off with a kick.

Avenue is extremely good, well priced, family friendly without dumbing down and the addition of a pizza selection will no doubt prove popular, I have to say they looked very good. I will most certainly return.
Avenue, 65-67 Church Road, Hove, BN3 2BD, 01273 739742 / avenuehove.com

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