A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of dining at Embers, a local Brighton gem that has quickly become a culinary sensation. Since opening its doors last year, it has earned recognition from Michelin and been named Restaurant of the Year in Brighton for 2024.
We’d had a wet and windy morning perusing the shops and having coffee and now it was time for lunch. It was Sunday and November so of course it was going to be a roast. Google maps sent us left down one of the narrow South Laines and all of a sudden we were greeted by a coal hole.
Upon entering the smell from the fully open, fire-fueled kitchen was fantastic. We took our seats and swiftly ordered a round of cocktails and 3/5 of their small plates all priced between £3-£4!
- Pink bream crudo with orange, dashi and pickled chilli
- House sourdough with dripping butter
- Pumpkin panzanella with green olive, cranberry, kale and croutes
The main event is a wood fired sharing roast platter which is great if you’re close enough with the person next to you to divvy up the roast potatoes evenly! But not so great on a first date… My partner and I went for the Ember-roasted pork loin with apple sauce and crackling (resembling a Quaver) and the smoked half chicken with bread sauce. The chefs meticulously worked on hispi cabbage, glazed carrots, and broccoli over a crank mechanism to achieve the ideal heat and smoke, while roast potatoes sizzled in skillets inside a Gozney wood-fired oven. Our friends took on the indulgent Four Beast Feast, featuring pork belly, beef rump, lamb & mint sausage, and chicken — a true showstopper!
The roast was charged at around £23-£29 pp which we all thought was very reasonable for the roast we were served, and if anything nowadays feels on the cheaper end of the roast value scale.
We of course couldn’t have had two incredible courses and not gone in for a third so we shared ‘The Rolo’ a dessert made of (as the name suggests), chocolate and caramel before being topped with toasted (vanilla ice cream). The meal was washed down by an aperitif before sharing a bottle of Rebellion Malbec which paired perfectly, which it kind of had to given the short but sweet wine list.
I would highly recommend a visit to Embers if you’re in the neighbourhood! I can’t wait to go back and try their a la carte small plates menu! I’ve since come away and thought about the meal a lot and found myself on their website. Their story and ethos is as strong as their food.
A Passion for Fire and Flavour
Dave and Isaac have known each other for 15 years and Dave was Isaacs’s first mentor in the kitchen – they’ve been good friends ever since. It was always their dream to open a restaurant together and it has finally happened! Dave has always been the bbq king and has always cooked over a wood fire, so opening a restaurant cooking exclusively over wood just made so much sense! You could almost say they are going a bit medieval but in a modern setting.
Although Dave and Isaac both have a fine dining background, they wanted Embers to be a lot more accessible – the kind of place they would love to go to on their days off.
For both of them, the dishes they remember the most fondly are always the simplest ones; dishes that deliver punchy yet contrasting flavour combinations made with great quality seasonal ingredients. This is the basis on which they have designed the menu at Embers.
For thousands of years people have made friends and shared food around a fire, and this is what our concept is all about. “Fire & Friendship”.
All about Wood!
Last October, as the energy crisis began to bite, Dave and Isaac hatched a bold plan: a restaurant that would cook exclusively over a wood fire, ditching electricity and gas. While initially met with some skepticism, the pair quickly grew passionate about this unconventional approach.
Sustainability was a key driver. They sought a local supplier and found Mark Salanson, a craftsman based in Hassocks. Salanson specialises in kiln-drying ash and beech logs, ensuring that only perfectly dried wood, with the ideal moisture content, is delivered to Embers.
This carefully selected wood is essential for creating the perfect embers, which provide a consistent heat source and impart a delicate yet distinctive smoky flavour to every dish. To maximise efficiency, the restaurant’s design incorporates the fire’s energy to heat plates and
the main dining room.