Tom Stephens' award-winning cooking showcases local suppliers in a complex yet elegant menu
Just five months after Tom Stephens opened his first restaurant, Dilsk in Brighton in April, it was listed in the Michelin Guide. It's not surprising that the inspectors had their eyes on Stephens, given that his impressive CV includes stints with Tom Kerridge, Steve Drake, Marcus Eaves at Pied à Terre and opening Fera at Claridge's as sous chef for Simon Rogan.
The 24-cover fine dining restaurant that focuses on sustainable, zero-waste cooking occupies a semi-basement space in Drakes boutique hotel, which has recently been acquired by a Curious Group of Hotels and which also includes L'Hotel in Paris and the Portobello in London.
"We were aware that Amarillo, the previous restaurant here, had closed down, so we knew that there was a space available and that Drakes had a good reputation," says Stephens, who opened the restaurant with partner Madeleine Riches, who he had previously worked with at 64 Degrees in Brighton Lanes where he was head chef and she was operations manager. "We approached the hotel. They weren't really actively looking, so we jumped in and they were quite happy to take us on."
There are three full-time chefs in the kitchen, including Stephens, plus a part-time kitchen porter working shifts. The restaurant offers a 10-course ‘Full Tasting' menu (£95) a six-course ‘Short Tasting' menu (£55), both of which are available Monday to Saturday, and a set three-course lunch (£35), available Thursday to Saturday, which also includes the signature, Instagram-friendly laminated brioche rolls with nasturtium butter. Another signature is the oyster dish, which has been served as the first course on both tasting menus since the restaurant opened.
"It's an oyster shell filled with baked dilsk custard that's topped with a lightly poached oyster, pickled radish, marinated trout roe and some vegetables, depending on what we can get in and what's in season at the time. It's in line with our ethos. Our forager Andy Gathercole brings in the dilsk, a type of seaweed, for us, along with salty fingers and purslane, and whatever he can find along the coastline."
The oyster and bread apart, Stephens says he changes his menus on a weekly basis to keep them "super seasonal", either creating a new dish or evolving existing dishes to incorporate ingredients as they come into season.
"We've been using whole grocers Shrub Provisions in Brighton, which has an amazing array of local farmers and growers and it sources some absolutely amazing stuff. We're in contact with them a lot and they tell us what's coming in and what's great."
With autumn in full swing, Stephens is using game as the main protein in a number of dishes, including a complex preparation of partridge. The breasts are cooked on the crown and then glazed in a homemade ‘Marmite' made from the reduced liquid produced from fermenting waste bread. Salsify is poached and crumbed with a "dry bread sauce mix", spiced with cloves, bay leaf, peppercorns and onion powder and fried in rendered partridge fat. It's also served as a caramelised purée that's topped with freshly sliced truffle from the South Downs.
The dish is finished with a Scarvita red cabbage purée spiced with cloves, juniper, fennel seeds, star anise and allspice berries and a caramelised cream, partridge stock, cep mushroom, Sarawak pepper and truffle sauce. The legs are confited and crumbed in the same way as the salsify and then deep-fried and served on a separate plate with an emulsified celeriac leaf oil. It's a dish that typifies Stephens's detailed and sophisticated approach to cooking.
"It's super simple to look at but there's a lot of work that goes into it. It's all about just getting the best flavour out of the ingredients."
Stephens has just introduced a six course ‘Festive Menu' (£65) that includes Sussex turkey with bacon, apricot and sage and a confit leg and potato terrine. He's also putting the finishing touches to a private dining room that will add a further 12 covers, but says his main concern is to build on what he has achieved.
"We've got a great basis to expand on in terms of really pushing the food and building awareness. Next year we're going to look at acquiring a bit of land where we can start growing a lot more of our own produce, which will be really key to upping the food level.
"Obviously the Michelin Guide thing is great and to get more recognition from them one day would be amazing, but who knows how these things work. It's a mysterious realm at Michelin."
From the menu
- Orkney Scallop, beetroot, smoked roe, ham broth
- South Coast monkfish, patty pan, dumpling, cheek fritter, prawn head hollandaise
- Fox Acres chicken, barbecue lettuce,
- Culver corn, cep, caramelised whey
- Quinton's lamb, girolles, kale, yogurt
- Plum, sake, Earl Grey
- Apple and celeriac tatin, sorrel, cobnut
- Sussex Tenor chocolate, crème fraîche, smoked rapeseed oil, barley miso
44 Marine Parade, Kemptown, Brighton BN2 1PE
