IMPRINT. Define. Impress.

Three little words that can’t help but draw an awkward grimace. Is it the catchphrase for a dodgy Shoreham car salesman? The mantra for a 1990’s marketing guru? No – it is in fact the motto for the city’s newest restaurant opening, etch.

Located on the corner of Church Road in Hove, etch. is the long-awaited passion project from MasterChef Professionals victor, Steven Edwards. It’s also on prime foodie real estate, just a stone’s throw from The Ginger Pig.

But if you judge these things on looks alone, etch. will have no problem with drawing a crowd. The space is as pretty as a picture – broody pine-coloured walls, a splash of Art Republic paintings, an open pass and a bar stocked to the nines with Nyetimber.

The army of waiting staff are young and beautiful, Greek demi-gods squeezed into skinny jeans and matching waistcoats.

But none of it feels as on-point as the menu. Seasonal, locally sourced and trendily cryptic – with just two words spared to describe every dish.

At £50 a head for a fixed six-course tasting menu, it certainly isn’t your average Saturday lunch out. But does it manage to Imprint, Define and Impress? We’ll be the judge of that Steven …

We kick things off with an amuse-bouche of mushroom donuts, Lilliputian spheres humming with fungi and truffle oil, followed by miniature biscuit discs topped with a silky onion cream cheese.

Breads quickly follow – pert brioche rolls served on tree stumps and butter dished out on a pebble. It’s the sort of presentation a more cynical diner might roll their eyes at.

Luckily they’re delicious – flaky brioche slick with Marmite glaze and doughy inside.

The rich butter is flecked with dehydrated seaweed, and a small mound of sea salt sits alongside for anyone requiring a salty kick.

The menu might be light on detail, but the waiters certainly know their stuff, describing each dish in incredible detail, as well as the cooking and the source of many ingredients.

Foodies will love it – ordinary punters might be less enthralled with a turnip’s journey to the plate. But the service is squeaky clean, and every dish is well paced, with never more than ten or 15 minutes passing between courses.

Broccoli and Cheese is a soup whipped to an incredibly light, flavourful foam. There are other broccoli bits – raw stem, and smoky chargrilled florets. But it’s the generous wedge of salty, sour goat’s cheese that leaves us scraping the bowl clean.

Sea trout and Cucumber is a dish as soft as a pensioner’s gumline.

There’s a base layer of thin trout carpaccio, topped with finely diced tartar rolled in a cucumber jelly. Small segments of compressed and chargrilled cucumber taste, well, much like cucumber – a little grassy, a little wet. Tempura cockles don’t bring nearly enough crunch or salty respite to the soft, delicate but ultimately disappointing pile.

Mushrooms and Chocolate doesn’t fare much better – a dish that takes beautiful local ingredients and gives them a good kicking.

Squares of Flour Pot Bakery sourdough are so violently charred they nearly fly off the plate when you take a knife to them. The cheffy swipe of dark chocolate isn’t enough to anchor them. A small pile of mushrooms is cooked well enough, with a grating of truffle and frozen dark chocolate adding a certain richness. But no amount of thoughtful,

contemplative cooking can undo the lingering taste and texture of burnt toast.

But all is forgiven with the arrival of the lamb.

Three small slabs of varying cuts – belly cooked for a day at 66 degrees, a perfectly pink fillet and a saddle. There’s a coil of spinach and a scatter of just cooked turnips.

But the star of the show is a knock-your-socks-off red wine sauce that’s as glossy as a Crufts champion and as rich and smug as its owner.

Thankfully puddings are just as impressive. Lemon and White Chocolate is all sweetness and zing – a pale white disc of white chocolate mousse topped with a lip-puckeringly sharp lemon sorbet. Chargrilled cubes of lemon are like bursting gems of caramelised lemon juice, and a scattering of white chocolate crumb gives the whole thing some bite.

The final course of ‘Honey and Rhubarb’ is an old faithful from Edwards’ MasterChef days and the old girl still draws a crowd.

There’s a hug of warm honey cake and thick creamy parfait, followed by the smack of rhubarb sharpness delivered in various guises – pressed, gel and sorbet.

It’s still early doors for the etch. team and some areas still felt a little experimental. But with just two weeks of service under their belts, we saw some flashes of cookery that do feel genuinely exciting.

Just give me a plate of those brioche rolls and a double portion of lamb any day.

It’s safe to say Steven Edwards has arrived and is set to make his mark on the city’s dining scene – he just needs to ditch the awkward tagline.

  • The Gourmand pays for all his meals.

ETCH. BY STEVEN EDWARDS, CHURCH ROAD, HOVE

Food: ★★★★

Service: ★★★★

Atmosphere: ★★★★

MENU TASTER

Six-course tasting menu: £50 per head

Broccoli and cheese

Sea trout and cucumber

Mushrooms and chocolate

Lamb and turnip

Lemon and white chocolate

Honey and rhubarb