Fork, Lewes, East Sussex: 'The kind of place I really want to succeed' - restaurant review | Grace Dent on restaurants
Lewes, where Fork lives, had so far escaped my notice. Maybe, like me, you went all the way to Brighton and then, distracted by bright lights and cotton candy, you never traveled further. I suspect that's exactly how the locals like it, slightly ignored by the hubbub of tourists needing candy apples or places to shout while wearing hen night scarves. Lewes is not like that: it is a completely different land, picturesque, quirky, charming and all sorts of other words that make you wander nostalgically through the windows of estate agents, after visiting Anne of Cleves' house and bought coffee beans at Trading Post Coffee Roasters.
Until recently it was rumored that the local restaurant landscape was a bit limited, although the new Turkish Zorba Square has breathed life into the city. Others told me to check out the new Superhip Relais Cooden Beach hotel redesign underway near Bexhill-on-Sea, where I've been before Fork, hoping for a Sunday brunch like the cats order cool, but I was reluctantly served an untoasted ciabatta sandwich with an all-salty crispy filling at 10:30, as the chef was no longer making breakfast. By the time I reached Fork, my hunger was great and my expectations thwarted. Luckily, it was worth keeping my appetite alive.
Fork is small and intimate, and set in a Grade II listed building painted pale gray. Don't come here to conduct sordid business and expect adjacent tables not to hear every word of your conversation; your neighbor's elbows might just be in your soup. The room is sparse, with an open kitchen to one side, and there is an enclosed garden for dining in during the sunny months. This is an independent restaurant run by a chef with modern aspirations: it's chic and imaginative, rather than lavish.
The Sunday menu when we visited was two courses for £30 or three for £38. On the starters was a quenelle of rich chicken liver pate on a soft and fluffy homemade brioche with fried pickles, quince jelly and a sprinkle of pistachio. A dish like this immediately enhances a restaurant stall: think Ledbury and definitely not Toby Carvery. Every element of this bowl is crafted from scratch and thoughtful, including the placement of the micro watercress and pea shoots.
Ditto for my favorite dish of the day, if not of the month so far: Fork's cauliflower velouté , which sounds like it could be a humble s...
Lewes, where Fork lives, had so far escaped my notice. Maybe, like me, you went all the way to Brighton and then, distracted by bright lights and cotton candy, you never traveled further. I suspect that's exactly how the locals like it, slightly ignored by the hubbub of tourists needing candy apples or places to shout while wearing hen night scarves. Lewes is not like that: it is a completely different land, picturesque, quirky, charming and all sorts of other words that make you wander nostalgically through the windows of estate agents, after visiting Anne of Cleves' house and bought coffee beans at Trading Post Coffee Roasters.
Until recently it was rumored that the local restaurant landscape was a bit limited, although the new Turkish Zorba Square has breathed life into the city. Others told me to check out the new Superhip Relais Cooden Beach hotel redesign underway near Bexhill-on-Sea, where I've been before Fork, hoping for a Sunday brunch like the cats order cool, but I was reluctantly served an untoasted ciabatta sandwich with an all-salty crispy filling at 10:30, as the chef was no longer making breakfast. By the time I reached Fork, my hunger was great and my expectations thwarted. Luckily, it was worth keeping my appetite alive.
Fork is small and intimate, and set in a Grade II listed building painted pale gray. Don't come here to conduct sordid business and expect adjacent tables not to hear every word of your conversation; your neighbor's elbows might just be in your soup. The room is sparse, with an open kitchen to one side, and there is an enclosed garden for dining in during the sunny months. This is an independent restaurant run by a chef with modern aspirations: it's chic and imaginative, rather than lavish.
The Sunday menu when we visited was two courses for £30 or three for £38. On the starters was a quenelle of rich chicken liver pate on a soft and fluffy homemade brioche with fried pickles, quince jelly and a sprinkle of pistachio. A dish like this immediately enhances a restaurant stall: think Ledbury and definitely not Toby Carvery. Every element of this bowl is crafted from scratch and thoughtful, including the placement of the micro watercress and pea shoots.
Ditto for my favorite dish of the day, if not of the month so far: Fork's cauliflower velouté , which sounds like it could be a humble s...
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