Dines Out – 64 Degrees: Top tucker

There’s been a foodie tsunami of dining related awards in the city of late. All of them with their own methods and mission statements and so on and so on. Personally I admire them all in their own right, whoever and wherever they spring from, public votes, expert votes, who cares really, the city, and the county, should be justifiably proud that it boasts a gastronomic scene that merits such attention. Three cheers for the lot of them I say, and thank heavens I live here and not in some epicurean wilderness. If you are one of those who thinks we have nowhere decent to eat then I challenge you to find a city with more options, whether that is based on price, innovation or any other criteria you care to chuck at it.

One thing I have noticed though is that no matter where you look to seek advice on the best there is a pretty convincing cluster of places that all seem to hog the top spaces. Right up there, time after time, is 64 Degrees.

I recently had to entertain two charming Chinese ladies from a TV delegation. I wanted to show them the city’s food scene and how exciting British cuisine is, so it was off to see chef Michael Bremner and his team.

Excitement at every turn

If you are wondering why I didn’t choose to take them somewhere oriental, surely they get enough of that back home. Even with a translator I thought it would be best to hand over the reins to chef Michael and let him select our menu. It was as ever an excellent idea, but regular readers will know that this is a course of action I often take. We drank a bottle of Ridgeview’s award winning sparkling wine and indeed the one which had been served to the Chinese Premier on his last visit to Buckingham Palace, they really liked this and the delicious wine too.

Pretty soon the dishes started to arrive. 64 Degrees create food which is ever changing, is based on seasonal produce and on genuinely local ingredients, and we were not disappointed. Dish after dish was a feast for the eyes, the nose and finally the tongue. There is excitement at every turn, surprises, bursts of flavour, brilliant contrasts of texture and of heat, shocks and then comforts… With each dish our guests’ eyes opened wider and wider, and their mouths too. They ate with a delicate respect, as if being served jewels, and I have to agree that this food is indeed jewel like.

Michael has had plenty of media attention in the last year, reaching the final of Great British Menu on the BBC, but for local food lovers he is a star above and beyond that, and that heady place at the top of the awards is more than well deserved.

53 Meeting House Ln, Brighton, BN1 1HB
01273 770115
64degrees.co.uk