When restaurants want to know the next food trend, Mike Palmer is the man they go to.

The founder of restaurant consultancy Lost In Catering has worked with the likes of All Bar One, Pret, Selfridges, Pizza Express and Browns, as well as new independent businesses, to identify where the foodie market is going, and make sure they provide the best new ingredients on their menus.

But having lived in Brighton for the past 12 years, Palmer always had a dream of his own – to open a place on the beach.

“I was always looking for the right site,” he says, sitting outside Lucky Beach, formerly Katz, next door to Brighton Watersports, which he took over last Christmas, and opened in April after extensive renovations.

“The star of the show is the beach. What we are trying to do is provide a different level of quality – to make that extra effort so people remember us.”

That focus on the details can be seen in the burgers which are at the centre of the Lucky Beach menu. All the meat comes from native British breeds of cattle reared in conservation farm schemes on organic grassland in Sussex and Surrey. The meat is dry-aged on the bone for five weeks, with rump and chuck steak minced up to make the patties.

The burgers come in brioche buns, freshly made by a Hove-based baker, and garnished with sauces created on site. Among the choices are a green chilli burger (pictured), smokey bacon-topped double patty, and a special creation named after the seafront burger king himself, former Bucks Fizz and Dollar singer David Van Day. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the burgers have already received the thumbs up from Red and Shortlist magazines.

“We change the menu every week,” says Palmer, who recently added fish and chips sourced from one of his neighbouring fish shops.

“We sell lots of veggie breakfasts – we combine free-range eggs, avocado, fennel, hummus and sumac, a lovely North African spice.”

Looking through this week’s menu there are plenty of unusual and mouth-watering options – from salt caramel hot chocolate, to the halloumi mushroom veggie burger, or Palmer’s favourite Lucky Beach Slices – in a choice of Eton Mess, toffee crisp, cappuccino or chocolate brownie.

Lucky Beach can serve 100 covers both inside and outside on the beachfront in the summer and 50 in the winter. With windbreaks that can be closed up to keep out the cold, it is clearly set to be a destination venue in the colder months when the city returns to the locals, augmented with Robin Day chairs sourced from the Royal Festival Hall, and a laidback atmosphere.

Palmer has an alcohol licence, with Dark Star beers, Aperol Spritz, Pimm’s and lemonade and sangria all proving popular thirst-quenchers.

And Lucky Beach, which took its name from an Australian coffee shop, also serves Redroaster coffee in beautiful hand-blown cups.

Quality food on the seafront is nothing new – champagne and oyster bar Riddle And Finns now has an outlet on the parade – but Palmer is adding something special with a series of pop-up events.

Last week saw Chris Bailey, a veteran of Michelin-starred restaurants, serve eight courses for £50 to 32 lucky customers.

And next month Brighton-based Ben Spalding – who has worked with Simon Rogan, Heston Blumenthal, Gordon Ramsay and Thomas Keller – will be providing eight courses for £42.

“He has a reputation in London as one of the hottest chefs in the country,” says Palmer of the event on Wednesday, September 4, and Thursday, September 5. “His cooking is incredible. This will be his first time back in Brighton.

“I’m really into pop-up food and I want to highlight the best of Brighton and Sussex.”

Future visitors include Brighton Food Society and chefs from Soho steakhouse The Flat Iron.

It’s certainly a long way from a seafront soggy bag of chips and coffee in a polystyrene cup.

  • Lucky Beach, King’s Road Arches, Brighton, 01273 728280
  • Open weekdays 9am, weekends 8am, visit twitter.com/WeOpenAt or luckybeach.co.uk