Fine dining restaurant Graze had a pretty good ten-year Innings in the city. Its inventive cuisine, velvety parlour interior, and buzzy Hove location had a loyal foodie following.

But though a forerunner of of the current embarrassment of riches, it had became somewhat sidelined in the gastro gold rush.

Its special occasion status left it reliably busy at the weekend and reliably quiet in the week.

While there remains an appetite for long-form eating of the tasting menu, it demanded a lot of trust and commitment.

It was these and other reasons which inspired Kate Alleston and Neil Mannifield to undergo a £20,000 transformation of the restaurant, which appears to have been an emphatic success.

Friends who never made it to Graze have already been to Market several times. It is instantly much more accessible and is simply a more desirable place to be.

The market theme is no gimmick and informs the whole style and food. Victorian green metro tiles are distinctive and utilitarian, and its neighbours - a green grocer, high-end cheese shop La Cave à Fromage and Mediterranean deli Sage and Relish - make it feel like an outpost of Borough Market. The location may have once stymied business for Graze, but it feels advantageous for Market, particularly in 2015.

With a kitchen and bar running most of the interior's length, the dining space is smaller, yet feels more expansive, fitting a snug 50 covers. The bar dining may already be a restaurant cliche, but it works here, with drinks playing a huge part in the now informal bar style.

Starting with a couple looseners, aperitif du jour, the negroni, is a hair-raising serving of gin, vermouth and campari, is a visceral come-on to the palate. The champagne cocktail also inspired a heady hunger, the brandy and bitters making for a fizzy Christmas nostalgia.

The tasting menus may have been ditched, but with around 25 small plates to choose from, a Market session can easily reach similar heights price-wise - albeit with more control over how many courses.

Chefs might wince at the description of tapas, that is the best description - especially with such Spanish ingredients.

After battered and deep-fried green olives - better than it sounds - we have thick-cut Iberico ham, of salty, unctuous, with honey and cornichons.

Warm octopus Gallica-style was had deeply smoky paprika, peppery extra virgin and capers. Brighton tapas restaurant AguaDulce has a similar signature dish - but this was a fine match.

A stiff flute of sherry - that long misunderstood, now up and coming tipple - was a fine accompaniment. The fortified wine from Andalucia has long been left to gather dust in housewives’ cupboards, but Market boasts three varieties.

The Gourmand adores the oysters and there’s little that can improve a good one - but Market's molluscs come with a shot of bloody Mary crab bisque, a buttery complement to the glandular ocean dweller.

Mac and cheese is everywhere these days but ours was delicate and truffled, far from some of the more common ham-fisted efforts.

Steamed purple broccoli and crispy kale were smothered in sesame paste tahini - an inspired Ottolenghi style uplift of the humble roughage.

Mediocrity was rare, though the deed fried polenta balls, with cream cheese and mushrooms inside, were bland. And the blue fillet steak, with egg yolk and salsify chips was fine, though felt like a throwaway option for the unadventurous. Some more traditional mains are chalked behind the bar, but they weren't mentioned by staff so are they stayed on the board.

Cheese and port was a logical conclusion, and we have pungent, running Époisses, which is washed in brandy, and Golden Cross goats cheese from near Lewes.

A sweet elderberry port came from Sussex's first distillery Blackdown, and the krohn colheita from Porto - a neat encapsulation of the restaurant's ethos of carefully curated produce from Sussex and beyond.