SPRING HARVEST: Friday 30 March - Monday 9 April 2012
SPRING HARVEST FESTIVAL AND
BRIGHTON & HOVE FOODIE AWARDS LAUNCH
Friday 30 March 2012, noon - 2pm
We launch our 2012 Spring Harvest festival, and the Brighton & Hove Foodie Awards in the atmospheric surrounds of Pub du Vin.
Pub du Vin, 6 Ship Street, Brighton, BN1 1AD
This is an invite only event.
SUSSEX BEER FESTIVAL
Friday 30 - Saturday 31 March 2012
Two sessions daily: 12-5pm, 6-11pm
Enjoy over 25 local beers and ciders, alongside pub grub and BBQ, at our second Sussex Beer Festival. Featuring local breweries including Darkstar, WJ King and Hepworths, alongside ciders from Wobblegate and Battle. Your entry ticket includes a collectors glass, tasting notes and a tasting ticket.
Pub du Vin, 6 Ship Street, Brighton, BN1 1AD
01273 718 588 • www.hotelduvin.com
Advance tickets available from Pub du Vin and this website shortly.
CHILLI CHALLENGE
Friday 30 March 2012, 7-9pm
The festival gets off to a scorching start with the Chilli Challenge at the Rendezvous Casino. Throughout the evening you can test your heat tolerance on the Heat Challenge Table with 10 items to try ranging from cool to the world’s hottest chilli: the Naga Death. For real chilli heads we’ve also get even hotter products to blow you away including Satan’s Sweat sauce and chilli wine! Every half hour from 7.30pm - 9pm you can also participate in the Chilli Shop Roulette competition with Fire in the Hole extra hot chilli beer shots and chilli chocolate. The last man standing gets a Brighton Marina Chilli Shop gift voucher. With a special chilli menu in the Upper Deck menu and chilli tasting flights on the tables, this is going to be the hottest night out of the year!
Rendezvous Casino, Brighton Marina, BN2 5UT • 01273 605 602
www.brighton.rendezvouscasino.com
FREE
CANTINA SECRET SUPPER CLUB
Friday 30 March & Saturday 31 March 2012, from 8pm
CanTina hosts her festival supper clubs in her cosy Brunswick home. She’ll be cooking two suppers, both are seasonal, using loads of delicious local produce, one celebrates British inspired dishes and the other offers a spicy affair! Five courses, a FREE cocktail & live music. Guests are seated over two long sharing tables so BYO wine and chatter.
Central Hove venue
To book call 07932 797 671 or visit www.cantinabrighton.co.uk
Suggested donation £35, booking essential
CAKES & BAKES FESTIVAL
Saturday 31 March - Sunday 1 April 2012
Piazza Market: 9am - 6pm (Saturday), 11am - 5pm (Sunday)
Cake Bake-Off: 11am - 3pm (Saturday)
Cupcake Workshops: 11am - 4pm (Sunday)
There’ll be plenty to tempt you at our first Cakes & Bakes festival, held this year in Churchill Square’s atrium and outside on the piazza. Featuring a selection of cake and cookie stalls, with a splash of coffee thrown in for good measure, no-one will be leaving without at least a cupcake in their hands (or tum!). On Saturday 31 March, the Indulgence Cupcake Company team will be hosting the Brighton Bake Off: The Professionals competition which will see three top Brighton restaurants battling for cake supremacy. Whilst on Sunday we invite you to get hands-on with our mini cupcake decorating workshops. Yum!
Churchill Square piazza and atrium, Brighton
FREE
SUSSEX GOURMET BUS TOUR
Saturday 31 March 2012, 9.30am - 6pm (approx)
Step aboard the Vintage Route Master for a culinary tour of Sussex, visiting some our best food and drink producers and seeing ‘behind the scenes’, all in the excellent company of fellow Sussex Foodies. Firstly, we shall be offering a welcome of local apple juice and pastry, to start the day as we mean to go on!
During the course of the day we shall be stopping off at a chocolatier, an artisan cheese maker and a brewer! In addition to these outstanding producers, we shall also be visiting a couple of local farms to see how our local rape seed oil and award winning apple juice is being produced. Tastings as we go ensure a wonderful day out and there will also be plenty of opportunity to buy products if you wish, along the way. On the way to the local produce lunch, we shall be joined by Court Garden Vineyard for a chat about their excellent sparkling wine and a pre-lunch glass of bubbles before stopping at The Crabtree, a recently refurbished gastro pub for a delicious lunch and a chance to chat to your fellow foodie passengers.
Tickets available via Brighton & Hove Buses website - click here to buy online now
£65 per person (including all visits and lunch), booking essential
THE WHISKY LOUNGE FEST!
Saturday 31 March 2012, noon - 5pm
The third year of the popular Whisky Lounge Festival sees even more distillers and bottlers flocking to the Hilton Brighton Metropole. For £25 customers will enjoy an amazing session of sampling and chatting with the exhibitors after receiving a free tasting glass, festival guide and bottle of water. A real eye-opener for anybody interested in whisky, or even food and drink in general - the flavours and personalities on display will be of the highest order. There will also be a retail shop within the event for essential purchases!
Hilton Brighton Metropole, Kings Road, Brighton, BN1 2FU
To book call 01904 410 841 or visit www.thewhiskylounge.com
Tickets £25
BOHO GELATO'S FLAVOURS OF BRIGHTON
Saturday 31 March - Sunday 1 April 2012, 11am - 6pm
Boho Gelato will be creating different flavoured ice creams using ingredients and produce from restaurants, food shops and attractions in Brighton for you to sample, and also purchase if you wish.
Boho Gelato, 6 Pool Valley, Brighton, BN1 1NJ
FREE
MIXOLOGY SECRET SUPPER CLUB
Sunday 1 April 2012, from 7pm
Myles Cunliffe – one of UK’s leading Molecular Mixologists – has put together a stunning meal for a Brighton & Hove Food and Drink Festival Supper Club. Combining his love for all things booze and his passion for amateur cooking has meant that those who do take part in this meat feast will experience cutting edge Cocktail Canapés, a fabulous slow cooked joint and all the trimmings as well as fire extinguisher ice cream for dessert, which will surely bring the house down.
Central Hove venue
To book call 01273 277 076 or visit www.mixologygroup.co.uk
Suggested donation £35, booking essential
BRIGHTON & HOVE RESTAURANT WEEK
Monday 2 April - Friday 6 April 2012
Following the success of last spring's Brighton & Hove Restaurant Week, the best eateries in town will again be offering fixed price festival menus for lunch (£7.50) and dinner (£15) to enable you to taste the finest food the city has to offer at a pocket friendly price.
Participating restaurants and cafes: AguaDulce, Aloka, The Courtyard, The Cricketers, Doyles at Lansdowne Place, Hove Place, The Little Fish Market, Maccheroni Pasta Italiana, Moshi Moshi, The Old Bank Steak & Ribs, Pub du Vin, Solera, Stanmer House Bar & Restaurant, Terre a Terre, Upper Deck at the Rendezvous
More details will be available on this website shortly
TERRE A DARE
Monday 2 April, from 7pm
Terre á Terre are celebrating Monday Openings for the Spring & Summer seasons with a Terre á Dare evening. All guests will receive a Terre á Dare fortune cookie, requesting that they deliver the dare and post it on their Facebook page within the week for the chance to win a meal for two, don’t worry they are kindly dares and random acts of kindness! Nothing they wouldn’t do themselves! Also to start it off, Terre á Terre will choose two tables to dine for free on the night – it could be you! This will be accompanied by a special Monday menu offering lots of daring tastes.
Terre a Terre, 71 East Street, Brighton BN1 1HQ
01273 729 051 • www.terreaterre.co.uk
NEW STEINE BISTRO SUPPER CLUB
Tuesday 3 April 2012, 7pm for 7.30pm dinner
New Steine Bistro’s ever-popular Supper Club makes a very welcome return to our Spring Harvest. As ever, this event is supporting the Rainbow Fund charity with a donation from every ticket sold. French chef Fabien will be combining local produce with French flair, with each of the three courses served with a complimentary glass of wine carefully selected by Henry Butler from the Butler Wine Cellar. Enjoy stuffed squid with Bayonne ham, Easter Sussex lamb fillet with a red fruit délice to finish. Arrive early for a complimentary welcome drink!
New Steine Bistro, 10-11 New Steine, Brighton BN2 1PB
01273 681 546 • www.newsteinehotel.com
Tickets £29.50
SPADE TO SPOON: DIGGING DEEPER
Tuesday 3 April 2012, 6.30pm - 8.30pm
Over the last few years, our city has shown a great interest in growing, buying, cooking and enjoying more sustainable food – but there is still more to do. Brighton & Hove was one of the first cities in the UK to write a food strategy back in 2006 but this year we are launching a new, revised food strategy to take this work to the next level. We want to see Brighton & Hove become a destination for sustainable food and everyone in the city can play their part in making this a reality.
For more details or tickets to the strategy launch in the Dome Room at Hotel du Vin
please call 01273 431 700 or visit www.bhfood.org.uk
Advance tickets FREE
CHURCHILL SQUARE LIVE FOOD KITCHEN & FARMERS MARKET
Wednesday 4 April 2012, 10am - 4pm
The weekly Churchill Square Farmers Market is joined by the festival’s Live Food Kitchen for a day of foodie demos and workshops. The ever-popular Carlo from Aguadulce Spanish Restaurant and Gina from Sabai Thai Gastrobar will be revealing their culinary tricks of the trade, and rustling up tasty dishes for you to sample, and hopefully prepare at home yourself. Some of our regular farmers market stallholders will also be preparing chutneys and jams using local fruit and vegetables. Tuck in to Brighton & Hove!
Churchill Square piazza, Brighton
FREE
TITBITS SUPPER CLUB
Supper Club: Wednesday 4 April 2012, from 7pm
Pop-Up Restaurant at Fanny’s of Hanover: Friday 6 April 2012, from 7pm
On Wednesday 4 April, Sammy from Titbits Catering will be hosting a very special Supper Club in her own home with an international tapas themed menu. Limited spaces book early to avoid disappointment. Then on Friday 6 April, Sammy and Paula will be hosting a special Spring Harvest Pop Up restaurant at Fanny’s of Hanover.
To book either of these events please visit www.titbitscatering.co.uk
INTERNATIONAL CHEF EXCHANGE DINNER:
DRAKES OF BRIGHTON HOSTS THE BEAUMONT (MAASTRICT)
Wednesday 4 April 2012, from 7pm
Drakes hosts the festival’s first ever International Chef Exchange and welcomes Chef Audrey Eussen of the Beaumont restaurant and hotel in Maasticht. For one night, Audrey will take the reins from Andrew MacKenzie in the Drakes kitchen and produce a five course menu using a combination of local produce she has sourced from Sussex producers, combined with some Dutch ingredients, and of course, her own unique flair.
During her week with us, Audrey will be visiting some local producers including Harveys Brewery and Ridgeview Winery to discover some of Sussex’s famed food and drink. You can also see Audrey and Andrew cook together on the Live Food Show stage on Friday 6 April.
Your ticket includes food and tasters of Dutch wines, and additional drinks are available to buy.
Drakes of Brighton, 43-44 Marine Parade, Brighton, BN2 1PE • 01273 696 934
Advance tickets £55, booking essential
CHATEAU CABEZAC WINE DINNER at HOTEL DU VIN
Thursday 5 April 2012, from 7pm
Hotel du Vin hosts a festival wine dinner featuring a selection of fine French wines from the award-winning Chateau Cabezac Wine Collection.
Chateau Cabezac is a 65 hectare estate in the AOC Minervois, Languedoc Roussillon, in the South of France. The owner Gontran Dondain, a passionate wine enthusiast, purchased the estate in 1997 and within ten years restored the vineyard to its proper place in the hierarchy of wine. It has since become one of the top wine estates of the region.
Chateau Cabezac use the finest terroir, along with sustainable farming methods, and progressive wine making techniques, to produce handcrafted, high quality, premium wines, created with considerable passion and dedication by a team of highly skilled professionals. The aim is to craft truly special wine that is at the top of its class, and make it available for the personal enjoyment of wine connoisseurs throughout the world.
The wines have won many awards which include Decanter Wine Awards – International Wine Challenge, and Syrah de Monde. Michael Broadbent and Steven Spurrier, the world-renowned wine journalists recently published highly complementary reviews about Chateau Cabezac in the Decanter Magazine.
Chateau Cabezac are very honoured to work with Hotel du Vin, a selection of wines will be matched with a four course meal specially prepared by the Head Chef Rob Carr. Stephanie Dondain, the owner’s daughter, and host for the evening will present a selection of Chateau Cabezac wines from this renowned wine estate.
Hotel du Vin, 5-6 Ship Street, Brighton, BN1 1AD • 01273 718 588
www.hotelduvin.com • www.chateaucabezac.com
Advance tickets £65
CELEBRATE WINE
Friday 6 April 2012, 3-7pm
Join us at Hotel du Vin for our ‘Celebrate Wine’ drop-in event and sample wines from Sussex and around the world. With 15 stalls, each showcasing a specific wine house or region, you can sample wines and talk to the expert Hotel du Vin team. We’re also welcoming La Cave a Fromage who’ll be exhibiting a range of great cheeses to sample and buy. Entry is free and wines are available to buy at a special price starting at just £3.50 per glass.
We also have two special tutored tasting sessions which are bookable in advance via Hotel du Vin reception:
Celebrate Diversity: Pinot Passion
Join us on a journey of discovery to expose the diversity of the Pinot noir grape from sparkling wines to still white wines, to rosé and still red wines from around the world. To guide you through the diverse Pinot noir colours and styles will be Dr Belinda Kemp who studied Pinot noir in New Zealand for her PhD. This tutored tasting will also include information about winemaking techniques and stories about the vineyards and winemakers. Price £25
The Best of Sussex: Cheese and Wine Matching
Hotel du Vin’s sommeliers guide you through a carefully selected range of Sussex still and sparkling wines, alongside local cheeses to complement. Price £30
Hotel du Vin, 2-6 Ship Street, Brighton, BN1 1AD
01273 718 588 • www.hotelduvin.com
FREE ENTRY
BIG SUSSEX MARKET
Friday 6 - Saturday 7 April 2012, 10am - 5pm
Our anchor event, and the largest free foodie event in the south of England, with an average attendance of over 40,000 people. With quality, local produce firmly at its heart, the Big Sussex Market features over 70 stalls of growers, producers and restaurants. This April also sees a dedicated Sussex Beer Bar on New Road with some great local ales and ciders, whilst over in Jubilee Street we’re hosting a Sussex Wine Bar showcasing the world-class wine grown on our own doorstep. You can also help judge the winner of our Bloody Mary Mix Off Competition at the Mixology stand. We’re also pleased to welcome Discover the Origin to the festival this year. This is a three year European funded project to promote Protected Designation of Origin food and drink from Italy, France and Portugal. Taste and discover more about Burgundy wines, Port and Douro Valley Wines, Parma Ham and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese in Jubilee Square.
New Road, Jubilee Street, Jubilee Square
FREE ENTRY
LIVE FOOD SHOW sponsored by Discover The Origin
Friday 6 - Saturday 7 April 2012, 10am - 5pm
This April, we’ve moved our Live Food Show into the Corn Exchange... but don’t worry, it’s still completely FREE to come and watch Brighton’s leading chefs work their food magic live on stage!
Hosted by local food writer Andrew Kay, we start both days at 10.15am with children’s food demos including Nick Coffer of My Daddy Cooks fame and Cookery Doodle Doo’s Katie Elfer, then from 11am Andrew will be welcoming the likes of Alun Sperring from the Chilli Pickle, Jean Chrisophe from L’Eglise and Rob Carr from Hotel du Vin onto the stage to prepare their signature dishes.
The festival’s International Chef Exchange duo – Audrey Eussen of the Beaumont in Maastricht and Andrew McKenzie of Drakes – will also be cooking with us and sharing their experience of the exchange project.
Our special guest at 2.30pm on Friday 6 April is Great British Bake Off finalist Miranda Gore Browne, who’ll be demonstrating recipes from her new book, Biscuit, which will also be available to buy from the Waterstones team on the day.
Our Live Food Show sponsor is Discover the Origin, so as an extra challenge on the day, we’ll be asking all our chefs to rustle up a five minute dish using either Parma Ham or Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese as a key ingredient.
We’ll also be announcing the winners of the Great Brighton Pizza Competition on Friday 6 April, and the winner of the Bloody Mary Mix Off Competition on Saturday 7 April, both at 5pm.
Don’t miss this sensational local food extravaganza!
Corn Exchange, Church Street, Brighton
FREE
BLOODY MARY MIX-OFF COCKTAIL COMPETITION
Friday 6 - Saturday 7 April 2012, 11am - 6pm
Restaurants, bars and pubs are challanged to rustle up cocktail which is then judged over the Big Sussex Market weekend by the great Brighton public. The winning cocktail will be announced at 6pm Saturday on the Live Food Show stage.
Jubilee Square, Brighton • www.mixologygroup.co.uk
CHILDREN'S FOOD FESTIVAL
Friday 6 - Saturday 7 April 2012, 10am - 5pm
The Children’s Food Festival features FREE workshops and activities in the Brighton Dome, and linking with the Brighton & Hove Children’s Festival theme of Bravery and Courage, there’ll be ‘Super Tongue Challenge’ workshops from Cookery Doodle Doo which will take children’s tastes buds on a scientific foodie adventure; Mini Chef Weird and Wonderful Food Journey where children are challenged to try mystery dishes from different countries; and a ‘Blind Buckets’ food bravery challenge running throughout the day in the Dome Foyer and Corn Exchange. FREE
CHILDREN'S LIVE FOOD SHOW
My Daddy Cooks: Nick Coffer
Friday 6 April 2012, 10.15am
Nick Coffer, author of My Daddy Cooks, will be cooking up simple family favourites (with Archie hopefully alongside him) and will be getting other kids involved in the show too. Expect mess, chaos, lots of fun - and some great recipe ideas! FREE
CHILDREN'S LIVE FOOD SHOW
Cookery Doodle Doo’s Katie Elfer
Saturday 7 April 2012, 10.15am
In the Cookery Doodle Doo ‘Dinky Demo’ at the Live Food Show, Katie Elfer will be providing a Popcorn Making Masterclass for Kids: Popcorn was made for theatre, so grab a seat and enjoy the explosions, transformations and delicious taste experiences in our first Live Food Show for children. Cookery Doodle Doo will be making fresh popcorn with unusual flavours - from ‘marmite’ and cheese to double-popping popping candy! There will be lots of tasters, ‘feelers’ and fun in this interactive live show. FREE
HANDS ON CHILDREN'S FOOD EVENTS
Food Bravery
Friday 6 & Saturday 7 April, 10am - 5pm; drop-in at any time
Brave children are invited to fondle, squish and mash GIGANTIC buckets of food! Explore different textures from icky- sloppy custard to mooshy-smooshy beans. How far to you dare to dip? This supervised food exploration with give children an opportunity to learn about texture and do the unthinkable – play with their food! Food bravery badges will be awarded to all children who dare to take part! FREE
HANDS ON CHILDREN'S FOOD EVENTS
Mini Chef Weird & Wonderful Food Journey
Friday 6 April Session 1: 10.00- 10.30 book here
Friday 6 April Session 2: 10.45-11.15 book here
Friday 6 April Session 3: 11.30-12.00 book here
Friday 6 April Session 4: 12.15-12.45 book here
Saturday 7 April Session 1: 10.00- 10.30 book here
Saturday 7 April Session 2: 10.45-11.15 book here
Saturday 7 April Session 3: 11.30-12.00 book here
Saturday 7 April Session 4: 12.15-12.45 book here
Learn about the world’s weirdest and greatest food from 10 different countries with Mini Chef in the Kitchen. Are you brave enough to take the food challenge? For ages 3+.
FREE tickets in advance via the links above • Please note no more than 4 tickets per family • Parents must remain with their children at all times
HANDS ON CHILDREN'S FOOD EVENTS
Super Tongue Challenge
Friday 6 April Session 1: 2-2.30pm book here
Friday 6 April Session 2: 3-3.30pm book here
Friday 6 April Session 3: 4-4.30pm book here
Friday 6 April Session 4: 5-5.30pm book here
Saturday 7 April Session 1: 2-2.30pm book here
Saturday 7 April Session 2: 3-3.30pm book here
Saturday 7 April Session 3: 4-4.30pm book here
Saturday 7 April Session 4: 5-5.30pm book here
In this workshop Cookery Doodle Doo take children’s tastes buds on a scientific foodie adventure. Children are invited to take part in our fun edible experiments designed to show the effect our other senses have on taste. Is your tongue up to the challenge?
FREE tickets in advance via the links above • Please note no more than 4 tickets per family • Parents must remain with their children at all times
HANDS ON CHILDREN'S FOOD EVENTS
French for Fidgets
Friday 6 April Session 1: 2.35-2.55pm book here
Friday 6 April Session 2: 3.35-3.55pm book here
Saturday 7 April Session 1: 2.35-2.55pm book here
Saturday 7 April Session 2: 3.35-3.55pm book here
French for Fidgets challenge you to join them on an exciting journey through the flavours of France. Crunchy baguettes and mouth-watering croissants make way for less familiar delights from the froggy menu... Oh là là! Brave participants will explore a range of tasty and sometimes stinky petits morceaux and find out just where their comfort zone really lies.
FREE tickets in advance via the links above • Please note no more than 4 tickets per family • Parents must remain with their children at all times
BRIGHTON FISH FESTIVAL
Monday 9 April 2012, noon - 7pm
Join us on Easter Monday for Brighton’s first ever fish festival: a FREE celebration of everything from the sea from Dover Sole to sea kale via lobster and shellfish.
Watch demos in our Live Food Kitchen, ranging from fish preparation to delicious seafood dishes rustled up by chefs from Moshi Moshi, L’Eglise, AguaDulce and Fishy Fishy. Terre á Terre will be showcasing the amazing sea greens that can be found on our shores, and there’ll be the opportunity to taste some vegan ‘prawns’ from Redwood. You can also take part in drop-in sushi making workshops running throughout the day.
The Marine Stewardship Council will be on hand to explain about sustainable fishing practices and the management of the marine environment, whilst our friends from SEALIFE will be creating a local marine eco-system pool so you can see some of the sea creatures to be found in the waters off the Sussex coast.
For some traditional Brighton seaside fun, we’ve got some sideshows from Brighton Pier where you can try your skill and raise money for local charities, and there’ll be regular themed entertainment including Punch & Judy and live music.
For the brave, we’ve also got the opportunity for you to feature in your very own ‘Fish Love’ photo (like Rankin’s image of Greta Scacchi shown here)!
So whether you fancy fish and chips, or lobster and a glass of fabulous Ridgeview Sussex sparkling wine, splash down in Bartholomew Square and enjoy the last day of the Spring Harvest food festival with us!
Bartholomew Square (in front of Brighton Town Hall), Brighton, BN1 1JS
FREE
