Come and C

Brighton hasn't exactly got a glut of good places to eat, so you can understand why the locals are more than happy about C-Restaurant. The new eatery, in trendy Kemp Town, can be found in the Blanch House - a new 14-bedroom Georgian hotel with a side view of the sea.

Owners Chris Edwardes and Amanda Blanch sold their house in London to open the hotel, restaurant and cocktail bar, turning the former B&B's restaurant into an ode to minimalism - white leather banquettes, white walls and a single gerbera on each white linen-covered table.

Not wanting to run the restaurant themselves, they leased the space to a like-minded London couple, chef Cass Titcombe (the restaurant's name is a play on Titcombe's initial and its proximity to the sea) and his partner, C's manager Anthea McNeill, both of whom formerly worked with Mogens Tholstrup (Daphne's, the Collection, Pasha).

"We were looking at opening up a restaurant in Brighton anyway, then this opportunity came along," explains Titcombe, who describes his food as "simple - not structured to any type of cuisine".

The menu offers a choice of six starters, mains and desserts in the 32-seat restaurant, at £25 for two courses and £30 for three.

Starters include dishes such as pheasant, chorizo and foie gras terrine with pickled shallots and damson vinegar; and chestnut gnocchi with sage, roast butternut squash, piquillo peppers, pine nuts and Parmesan.

Mains range from pan-fried sea bass fillet with cannellini beans, capers, parsley and smoked anchovy salsa, to pan-fried turbot with sesame, buckwheat noodles, shiitake, spring onions and coriander.

Desserts include Valrhona chocolate tart with blood oranges and amaretto sorbet, and caramel rice brûlée with braised rhubarb and pine nut brittle.

There are no best sellers, because Titcombe changes the menu daily. However, there's a strong emphasis on fish. "We get it straight off the boat," he says. "Bass is particularly good, and I get lovely turbot. Any dish I do with scallops sells well, too."

However, meat eaters are not ignored. A dish of ginger duck confit served with braised lentils, roast butternut squash and glazed quince, for instance, has remained on the menu due to popular demand.

At present, C-Restaurant is dinner-only, plus a busy Sunday lunch, which suits Titcombe as he has only one other chef cooking with him in the kitchen. From April, he plans to open for lunch on Thursdays and Fridays. Average spend is about £50 a head.

C-Restaurant, the Blanch House, 17 Atlingworth Street, Brighton BN2 1PL. Tel: 01273 645755