Re: Winter 2016 | Page 41

and The Good Food Guide’s South East “Regional Readers Restaurant of the Year” 2013. Head chef Jimmy Gray has also been awarded Sussex Young Chef of the Year in 2013. Having dined there a few times I jumped at the chance to do a lunchtime review along with my regular ‘helper’ Jo. We were lucky with the day we picked as the weather was unseasonably warm which meant that we could dine out on the terrace that overlooks the restaurants beautiful garden’s. On arrival we were warmly greeted and shown to our table. The staff here always have the perfect balance of professionalism and friendliness which is often lacking in many restaurants. The terrace was busy, despite it being a midweek lunchtime and a restaurant you have to travel to. I had the good sense to have taken a cab from Haywards Heath station so that I could partake in glass of wine or two with lunch and at the waiter’s recommendation we started with a delicious 2015 R Rosato, Aplha Zeta rosé from Verona in Italy, which was reasonably priced at £20 for the bottle. Once we had ordered from the seasonal a la carte menu we were served a delicious pre-starter which had smoked chicken, smoked beetroot, horseradish cream topped with toasted hazelnuts. Yum. To start I ordered the brawn terrine which was served with a green tomato chutney, exceptional crackling and one of my favourite herbs, tarragon. Jo opted for the lobster bisque which was pure theatre when she added the smooth creamy soup to the bowl of fennel topped with red pepper and lobster. For the main event I couldn’t resist another pork dish, belly of Plumpton pork with more of that amazing crackling. My dish came with cauliflower and elderflower and something I had never tried before – chicken of the woods. This mushroom has a lemony, meaty taste. Some think it tastes like its chicken namesake; but I have heard others describe the flavour as being more like crab or lobster. Either way, we were both blown away by this tasty ingredient. Jo is a fish lover and had chosen the Brill served with scallops from Devon, kohlrabi (from the cabbage family) and black kale. Her main was great but mine was better. Despite having had our fill we pushed on to try a couple of the delicious desserts (the things I have to do for our readers) and if this wasn’t enough we were served some mouth-watering petite fours with our coffee. We were exceptionally lucky with the weather and the benefit of enough time to enjoy an unhurried, leisurely lunch in stunning surroundings. I can’t praise Jeremy and his team enough for the service and the finesse of the carefully crafted dishes. I am fortunate that I get to try out some of the best restaurants in Sussex and I would put Jeremy’s up there with the best of them. B  y Jason Edge 39