The Waterfront, Sovereign Harbour, Eastbourne, 01323 470020
After opening only last month, this fish restaurant is aiming for nothing short of a Michelin star for Eastbourne.
“It would be a great thing for the town itself,” says head chef Anupam Som, who is confident he can deliver.
“I have been cooking for a long time, but I’ve never worked in a place where I’ve seen live Dover sole in the kitchen.”
It is this emphasis on freshness and access to high quality seasonal ingredients that Anupam believes stands the restaurant in good stead for that much-coveted star.
“Producing good food is all about the ingredients, and it really couldn’t be better than this here.”
Opened at the start of the year by entrepeneur Ron Slatcher, Piscari sits at the waterside at Sovereign Harbour, and employed 33-year-old Anupam for his 17-year track record in the industry with the likes of Michelin-starred Alex Bentley.
Anupam describes Piscari’s style as modern cooking that embraces traditional flavours.
“We take what people have liked for many years, but then we do our own experiments.
Taking a simple example like salad, we know that salad tastes crisper and fresher if you put it in cold water, so we measure the temperature of the water and see what temperature gets the best out of each kind of lettuce.”
It is this fastidious, reasoned approach to quality that Anupam is most passionate about, and he believes good food is as much about smell as it is taste.
“We have between nine and ten thousand taste buds in our tongue, but we have between six and eight million receptors in our olfactory system,” he says.
“Some scientists are saying up to 80% of deciding what we like is from the smell.”
Anupam has developed healthy links with the fishing trade in Eastbourne to ensure he gets the best of the catches.
“We have a very good relationship with the people here,” he says.
“I have contact with almost all of the fishermen, so before their produce hits the market I get the best, freshest lobster available – the fishermen love it when they see what we do with the food.”
He says the restaurant does not buy bags of mussels, instead selecting them individually for the evening’s service.
This rigorous approach is also applied to seasonal produce, sourced from farmers within a five-mile radius.
“Using seasonal products in this way gives another level to the cooking,” he says.
“For example, we’re using passion fruit this month, but it’s not about availability – you won’t get passion fruit that tastes as good in June.”
The reason for this, he explains, is all about the fog here at this time of year.
This level of precision may seem baffling, but Anupam says attention to detail has become increasingly important in modern cooking.
“I work 18 hours a day, but that’s not just in the kitchen – I’m working with my books and working with my computer.
Today’s chefs have to be scientists, artists and businessmen, but the science doesn’t have to be hard – good food is about chemistry.”
Prices at the 50-cover restaurant range from £5 to £27.50, and include a wide range of fish dishes.
Anupam says the food is prepared in such a way that he is convinced he can win over people who don’t usually eat fish.
For the committed non-fish eater, however, there are a number of meat dishes available.
Indeed, he says if he were pushed to choose something from the menu himself, he would opt for the Scotch beef fillet with Parmesan mash and wild mushrooms, but – given the highly seasonal nature of the menu – this is subject to change.
“We want people to remember the meal they have when they come here,” he says.
They won’t spend £5 more than they would at most other restaurants, but that extra £5 is for the quality of the ingredients we are using and the time we spend sourcing them.”
Anupam says he has yet to receive a complaint from a customer since Piscari’s opening at the beginning of January.
“Almost every single person has left and told us they will book again, which gives me and my kitchen team a lot of enthusiasm.”
Sample the menu
Appetisers
Seafood cake with strawberry salsa and pomegranate jelly: £5
Seared scallops with crab salad: £9
Thai basil crusted tuna sashimi: £8
Soft shell crab sushi maki: £7.50
Classic Caesar salad: £6.50
Beef carpaccio, chilled lobster salad: £11
Soups also available, including lobster bisque and sweetcorn and crab chowder.
Main courses
Chilli linguine with sauteed garlic prawns: £9.50
Aromatic baked seabass with saffron crushed parsnip: £11
Confit of pork belly with ham hock risotto and juniper sauce:£12
Black cod with black bean sauce, mison, hollandaise: £17.50
Grilled red mullet: £12.50
Dover sole meuniere: £26.50
Burnet butter and a choice of two side dishes
Grilled lobster tail: £27
Catch of the day, steak and salmon fillet
Desserts
Hazelbut panna cotta: £5 Crème brulee selection: £6.50
Slow baked New York cheesecake: £5
Open Tuesday to Saturday 6pm-11pm, and as a bistro from 8am-5pm.
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