IN JUST under a year, Petit Pois on Ship Street has established itself as Brighton’s go-to French bistro, offering an extensive menu of both classic and contemporary dishes at very pocket-friendly prices. Nick Mosley talks to head chef and co-owner David Roy.

You’re coming up to your first anniversary on June 9.

What have you and Ivana learned from your first year of trading?

That we are very happy with the feedback and that our customers are coming back.

But we are finding its very difficult to find staff with more and more restaurants opening in Brighton.

You’ve got an incredibly well-priced but high quality menu.

How do you manage to deliver that?

Our aim is to deliver quality at the lowest price possible to be competitive.

That is especially as we are a little tucked away on Ship Street, and away from the main thoroughfares of Brighton.

With more than 800 places to eat in Brighton and Hove, we have to offer something different to the rest of the restaurant scene.

We have a wide choice of top quality French charcuterie and cheeses. We also specialise in lighter dishes.

They are all priced under £10 so as to allow customer to try different plates.

Of course, we have some French classics.

They include snails, frog legs, Dauphinoise potatoes.

There are also plenty of dishes with a contemporary twist.

How do you make frog legs a must-do dish for your guests?

Brighton people love our French classics.

Instead of serving the frog legs whole swimming in garlic butter, we debone them and serve them like lollipop-style goujons.

It makes them easier to eat, less messy and great as a nibble.

How do you keep your menu fresh, and where do you source your produce from?

We change our menu about four times a year, according to the seasons.

We are using English vegetables.

We source them locally whenever possible and 90 per cent of the meat we use is British.

In my opinion, British beef is one of the best in Europe.

However, the charcuterie and cheeses are French, in March we launched our own Sunday roast with a French twist.

We import top quality free range chickens from France, and pork belly from the French Basque Country of Bayonne.

But the beef stays English; we mature and slow cook it for three hours, and serve it pink.

We believe it gives you one of the top Sunday roast experiences in Brighton.

l Petit Pois, 70 Ship Street, Brighton, BN1 1AE, 01273 911 211