Lizzie Enfield

Meet Brighton Food Reviewer, Lizzie Enfield

I grew up in a time and place when eating out was a real treat, a huge occasion, something that had to be occasioned by something - a big birthday, unbelievable exam results, a long lost relative re-materializing - that sort of thing. It was something to look forward to, to dress up for and often something to be mildly disappointed by. Shepherd’s pie at the Dog and Dumping with a glass of warm Liebfraumilch -what was all the anticipatory fuss about?

How times have changed.

I eat out all the time now: with friends and family, for business and pleasure. It still feels like a treat, just one you can treat yourself to for almost no reason at all. Finished an article. Let’s go out. Son tidies room. Let’s celebrate. Nothing in the fridge/ I bet the pub down the road has a fridge full of rich pickings.

Spoiled for choice

And the pickings really are rich now, especially here in Brighton and Hove. We’re spoiled for choice. Just

about every pub is a gastro pub, almost every café verges on a deli and so many restaurants are worth writing home about. Sometimes I get nostalgic for bad food: I wonder if there’s anywhere left that serve that serves mince and potatoes, cooked to imperfection, or fish and chips without the heritage potatoes and herby butter? But that’s just being picky and it’s hard to be picky when there’s so much good food about and so many reasons to get out and eat it. Sometimes it’s work (I write for number of newspapers and publications including the Guardian and Great British Food magazine). Sometimes research (I also write novels and characters have to eat and drink somewhere!). Sometimes it’s staying sane (I work from home and need to get out and see people) and sometimes it’s just because, well, I fancy a treat.

Favorite well-known chef and why?

I admire Jamie Oliver’s crusading zeal but a lot of celebrity chefs are more celebrity than chef so I’m going to plump for Elizabeth David because she wrote so beautifully and was the kind of adventurer and pioneer I’d like to have been, had I been born in another era. David studied in Paris and sailed off to Italy with a married man. Later they escaped from Greece, when it was invaded by Germany, to Egypt where she ran a library in Cairo before returning to England and wondering why everyone put up with such abysmal post war food. Her writing on French and Italian cuisine was hugely influential. She popularised hitherto virtually unheard of ingredients, like pasta and Parmesan, olive oil and aubergines. She showed us a new bar and we’re all happily swinging from it now.

Favourite restaurant ??

I can’t single out one… I love Indian Summer, because the food’s fab and the chef’s are friends, and Terre a Terre because, although I’m not veggie, lots of friends are and the food is great, even if by nature you crave a carcus. I’m fond of the Bali Brasserie because the setting is so incongruous (exotic interior in an ugly tower block) and my husband used to take me there when we first met a million years ago. The Open House pub at the end of my street does great pub food and has open fires in winter and the best beer garden in summer. Archipelago on Western Road is like going to Greece, just without the sunshine. Oh, and Al Fresco because the food’s great, the setting is spectacular and the staff treat you like an old friend, even if you’ve never been before.

What areas are of great importance to you when you visit a restaurant?

Being treated like an old friend! Friendly atmosphere. Not being squashed in and being able to hear people speak. Staff that go the extra mile - slipping out to buy marmite, if marmite and mash is your thing, or finding out exactly where the cutlery came from if you decide the fork is the best fork you’ve ever eaten off!

Good food, decent wine and anything else that makes eating out still feel like a treat.

Brighton Seafront Dining

Posted by Lizzie Enfield on 4th July 2017

Wine and dine along Brighton’s promenade It’s the holy grail of summer holidays: finding that perfect place to eat – a tucked away taverna or trattoria, with fresh sun-drenched ingredients, views across the sea and waves lapping at the edge of the table. New wave of restaurateurs Back home, there’s the weather to contend with…

BLOG POST: European Dining in Brighton, By Lizzie Enfield

Posted by Lizzie Enfield on 12th September 2016

European Dining in Brighton By Lizzie Enfield, September 2016 When I was growing up, in the seventies, the idea of European food was limited to the occasional slice of ‘French cheese,’ spaghetti bolognaise or tinned ravioli. The cheese, more often than not, was not even from France – ‘French’ was just a catchall for anything…

Vintage Eating in Brighton, By Lizzie Enfield

Posted by Lizzie Enfield on 15th July 2016

Vintage Eating in Brighton By Brighton Food Reviewer, Lizzie Enfield The year is 1978. We’re out for a meal in Brighton, to celebrate my sister getting into university – at restaurant we’ve never been to before but have heard a lot about. The food is great, the décor contemporary and the staff, well, let’s just…

Flexitarianism

Posted by Lizzie Enfield on 6th June 2016

So where did the term ‘Flexitarianism’ come from? Some of my ‘vegetarian’ friends have eating habits that appear to defy their principles. They accept dinner invitations with the prerequisite “you know I don’t eat meat,” then appear to have no issues with fish or chicken or sometimes even meat, as long as it’s organic. Their…

Plates VS Slates

Posted by Lizzie Enfield on 9th April 2016

Plates VS Slates, What Do You Think? I have a few bits of crockery at home made by a company called ‘people will always need plates.’ They sell a range of architecture inspired homeware, based on the premise that people will always need plates. You’d think so wouldn’t you? But if you’ve eaten out recently,…

Doggy Bags – An Explanation

Posted by Lizzie Enfield on 20th March 2016

Doggy Bags Explained Not so long ago we had a slightly awkward post meal encounter with a waitress. No, we weren’t querying the bill or pointing out that service was already included but my mother, who is both hard of hearing and plain of speaking (which means she often voices her plain thoughts at full…

BLOG POST: Din with your Dinner, a guide to acoustic dining

Posted by Lizzie Enfield on 11th March 2016

Din With Your Dinner? There’s a restaurant in central Brighton, which I used to go to a lot. The food’s great, the service is good and the atmosphere is convivial. What more could you ask for? Well, to be able to hear yourself speak and what others are saying for starters. And less of the…

Vegetarian Food Brighton

Posted by Lizzie Enfield on 30th December 2015

The Vegetarian Capital of the UK Brighton has long been dubbed the “Vegetarian Capital of the UK” and, while other cities are catching up, we still like the think it has the best array of veggie bars, cafes and restaurants in the country. And, with newly opened 1847 joining the myriad of meat free joints…

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