This April will see Brighton chefs Dave Marrow and Isaac Bartlett-Copeland (Chef Patron, Isaac At) come together to open Embers - a new restaurant celebrating Sussex produce, cooked over burning wood-fire, alongside innovative cocktails - in Brighton’s historic Lanes. Opening on April 3rd, Embers will be the first joint venture from long-term friends Marrow and Bartlett-Copeland, who first met fifteen years ago as mentor and mentee in Bartlett-Copeland’s first kitchen role at The Grand Hotel in Brighton.
Embers’s menu will be focused on creating bold flavours from locally grown ingredients, cooked entirely on a medieval wood-fire cage positioned over smouldering embers in the heart of the restaurant. Having cooked in some of Brighton’s most well-respected dining establishments including Terre à Terre and Isaac At, both chefs will bring their classical training into a totally new setting, as they turn to a feudal cooking style that is stripped-back and accessible. The succinct menu will see elements of every dish cooked entirely over local, kiln-dried ash and birch wood, veering away from gas and electricity altogether.
With Marrow heading up the kitchen, guests can expect a range of playful yet thoughtfully crafted snacks, small plates and centrepiece dishes that will sit alongside a concise selection of unique desserts. Dishes will be served sharing-style to encourage a relaxed and convivial atmosphere, drawing inspiration from Embers’s ancestral cooking ethos. Highlights from the menu will include:
Glazed Lamb Ribs, Candied Ginger, Kimchi, Furikake
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Smokey Chicken Leg, Crispy Skin, N’duja Aioli, Honey Butter
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Wagyu Denver Steak, Roscoff Onion, Coffee Hollandaise
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Shiitake & Cashew Larb, Bitter Herbs, Charred Hispi Cabbage
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Dry Aged Pork Tomahawk, Burnt Leek, Pickled Mustard Seed, Juices
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Miso Celeriac, Koji Soaked Engiri, Fresh Spring Truffle, Pickled Sea Vegetables, Mushroom XO
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Banana Split, Parsnip & Rosemary Ice Cream, Toffee Sauce, Praline
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Cheese on Toast, Truffle, Parmesan
Cocktails will be a large focus at Embers, with an extensive drinks menu featuring a range of classic cocktails alongside a list of well-made serves that showcase the smoky flavours and fiery character that are a pillar of the restaurant’s personality. For example, the Smoking Sazerac combines flavours of cognac, whiskey and bitters, playfully served with a bubble of smoke aromas; and the Flaming Zombie is a unique concoction of rum, orange juice, pineapple juice and Velvet Falernum, served to the table with a flaming sugar cube - making Embers a great late-night drinking and dining spot.
Located on the iconic Meeting House Lane, the 42-cover restaurant has been collaboratively designed by Bartlett-Copeland, Marrow, Isaac’s wife, Hannah, and respected local carpenter Paul Bethell to create a warm yet paired-back space with the blazing fire cage at the centre, ensuring guests can experience the theatrical cooking style from every seat in the restaurant. Heat from the fire cage will warm the main dining room and tableware in an effort to maximise energy efficiency, while wood will come from Sussex-based timberman Mark Salanson. In keeping with the restaurant’s simple aesthetic, large discs of burnt wood will adorn Embers’s walls in place of artwork, while food will be presented on beautiful rustic ‘plates’ made from sliced slabs of grey rock. A further eight covers can be found outside at the entrance to the restaurant and covered by an awning for those looking for an al fresco dining option. Embers will also open a back room comprising 18 covers in June.
