When Michael Bremner left Due South as head chef after five years he was looking for a new challenge.

And he is first to admit that coming to vegetarian restaurant Food For Friends was the biggest challenge he could imagine.

“I don’t think I could have gone to any other restaurant in Brighton and learned as much,” he says. “I’m looking at things in a totally different way.”

The Prince Albert Street restaurant has become a Brighton institution, having served vegetarian and vegan food for more than 30 years.

“The interesting thing is in other restaurants I have worked in you know when you start a service you will probably sell about 20 steaks or 20 fish and maybe five vegetarian dishes,” he says. “Here it’s hard to work out how many dishes you will sell to make sure you have the right amount of ingredients. Some things you think will sell well don’t do as well as others.

“The turnover is really fast though – everything that comes into the kitchen is gone by the next day.”

He believes vegetarian food is something many chefs brush over, in favour of specialising in meat or fish. In joining Food For Friends he wanted to push himself, and is determined to put his own twist on the vegetarian menu.

“I’m researching raw food,” he says. “I’m looking at what used to be done back in the day.

“I’m definitely trying to push the boundaries a little bit. I don’t want to scare people off with the stuff I’m doing, but at the same time I want to be doing something that no-one else has done.”

This has included a series of experiments in flavours – including the discovery that passion fruit and beetroot go well together.

In the first three weeks of starting at Food For Friends he has changed the menu, although he has kept the classic gravy which has been passed down by head chefs at the restaurant over the past three decades, and the Sunday roasts with both vegetarian and vegan options on offer. Among the new additions he’s brought in is an afternoon tea menu, which will be available between noon and 6pm. It is based on his experience as a pastry chef at Marco Pierre White’s Quo Vadis, and the skills of his current pastry chef Jamie Tawdoh, who’s part of the new team in the kitchen.

“We have a lot of desserts on our a la carte menu,” he says. “We also have scones and a lemon and olive oil cake. I think it fulfils a demand – people do come in just looking for a coffee and snack so it’s a good thing to do.”

He has recruited a talented young team who he’s encouraging to add their input.

“It’s important to work as a team and be able to throw ideas around,” he says. “We work off each other to come up with the best dishes. Sometimes in the middle of service I will think of something crazy.”

Among the highlights of the menu, which will be changing seasonally using local produce, are his whipped goats cheese rolled in olive and brioche crumb with cucumber, apple and crispy capers (pictured right), and his roast beetroot with creme fraiche and orange dressing, which can both be found among the starters.

Other new additions include a local business discount of 15% for offices around The Lanes, and a live music night on Sundays between 6.30pm and 9pm.

Bremner is already working on new ideas for the next menu.

“We’ve got to keep things fresh and moving,” he says. “We get a lot of repeat customers.”

  • Food For Friends is open daily from 12pm to 10pm (open until 10.30pm on Friday and Saturday). Afternoon tea served daily from 12pm to 6pm.
    To book, call 01273 202310. For more information, visit www.foodforfriends.com