Its name may have come from the old Brighton private members club which used to be located on its site.

But it was the US which provided the inspiration for The New Club, as partners of ten years Cathie Smith and Terry Bennett bring the spirit of the contemporary New York diner and Los Angeles independent coffee house to Brighton.

“We went to New York and LA looking at cutting edge diners, coffee houses and progressive burger joints, and then down to the Deep South to look at their fried chicken and barbecue restaurants,” says Smith.

“We are putting it all together.”

“There was a diner in Willamsburg, Brooklyn, made out of an old railway dining car,” remembers Bennett.

“It looked pretty stylish, but you wouldn’t think of it as a go-to eating destination. When you saw the food though it excelled any expectations – it was the food you would have in a five-star restaurant.

“This place has turned out to be more beautiful than we expected, so being able to exceed expectations is a little harder – but we still want to serve amazing food.”

It took eight months to transform the former cornerpiece to Preston Street’s China Garden restaurant which the couple took over in August last year.

Smith, who was on-site every day, describes it as “a rebuild, not a refit”.

“We were looking at a few properties and we could see the potential of this place. It needed saving really,” she says.

“The downstairs lounge hadn’t been touched for 15 years.”

The New Club has a perfect view of the wrecked West Pier and is a suntrap for most of the day, with pavement seating outside.

Inside, the most obvious nod to Manhattan is a specially commissioned giant wallpaper mural of New York photographer Vivienne Gucwa’s In Another Place And Time, taken in the city’s Canal Street, which dominates the back wall.

And there is an informal feel to the rest of the space, with its high ceiling (discovered after the removal of two false ceilings), stripped-down walls, industrial-style lighting and exposed air-conditioning, wooden floors with matching bar and stools, re-upholstered 1957 butterfly chairs and two sets of large windows which can be opened at the front during the summer months.

And there are personal touches, such as the head of Barry The Bear high up on the left-hand wall, which Smith is hoping to match with a similar obviously fake trophy head.

In its main space the venue can take 50 covers, with a further 30 outside, and 20 downstairs in their small lounge which can also be hired as a function room.

The New Club has a licence to put on ten music events during the year and is hoping to get involved with next year’s Fringe and Great Escape festivals.

But at the centre of The New Club is the food, with a menu designed by Smith and Bennett alongside head chef Tom Griffiths.

Having tested the waters since March, the menu is set for a revamp this week, building on early successes including the high take-up of their brunch menu and their highly-rated burgers. A national Shortlist survey to find the UK’s best burger gave The New Club’s Dirty Burger a rare five-star rating earlier this month.

“We don’t want to be known as just a burger joint,” admits Smith. “But we wanted to create the best burger outside London.”

“Our beef comes from Longhorn and Black Angus rare breed cows supplied by Sussex Organic Meat,” says Bennett. “We mince it on site ourselves, to guarantee the quality so our customers know what they are getting. We try to do that extra 10% which makes all the difference."

Similarly the brioche bun is made from scratch in the kitchens – and it comes across in the taste and structural integrity, not disintegrating mid-bite. The New Club offers a burger and beer offer in the evenings from 5pm to 7pm for anyone wishing to give them a try.

The rest of the menu has been based around local and seasonal produce, using high quality ingredients, with US favourites such as pulled pork and fried chicken alongside vegetarian options. Recent specials have included a carefully cooked light and tasty sea bass with pink new potatoes, fennel, shallots and beetroot.

And there are snacks and bites available, including onion rings and hot wings.

The popular brunch menu, which runs until 3.30pm, features everything you might expect from a US diner, from pancakes to hash and eggs, full English breakfasts and Bloody Marys (avail-able with a slice of bacon) for the sore-headed. The menu’s hidden weapons are the gorgeous desserts developed by Griffiths with 21-year-old pastry chef Hannah Murray. The triple-layered “choc ice” – a giant dissection of a chocolate bar – is a chocoholic’s dream, while the soft peanut butter cookie sandwich could almost be a meal in itself.

The food can all be washed down with Union Coffee, a wide selection of beers and wines, including some US craft beers, and cocktails served from 5pm.

The New Club is a new addition to this well-established part of Brighton’s food quarter – with Melrose Fish Restaurant and the Regency Tea Rooms both faithfully serving Brightonians and tourists alike for decades further down the block, and Preston Street offering cuisine from around the world around the corner.

“We didn’t want to be a high street restaurant,” says Bennett. “We wanted something that was all-day, very informal and unstructured, with a varied menu.”

“Because of our location we get a lot of visitors to Brighton, but we didn’t want to be a tourist trap,” adds Smith. “This is for the locals.”

  • The New Club, King’s Road, Brighton, 01273 730320
  • Open weekdays 9am to 10pm, Sat 8.30am to 10pm, Sun 8.30am to 9.30pm.
     
  • Visit thenewclubbrighton.com