Love Local: Food For Friends

An article by Claire    Comments Off

In 2001 a friend of mine was diagnosed with Coeliac’s disease. Suddenly eating out became a minefield. Being partial to vegetarian food, Food For Friends quickly became a dining out oasis for our group, as it was one of the few places that understood and could cater for her needs.

The restaurant is conveniently located on Prince Albert Street in The Lanes, making it the ideal meeting place for friends across the city and a haven from a busy day’s shopping. The staff have are friendly and the food excellent value for money. Over the years they’ve adapted the menu, changed the decor, even changed the owners but the experience has been consistent. Owner Ramin Mostowfi tells me, “I think we’ve managed to evolve and keep up with the trends over the years – it takes a lot of energy and hard work and I’m very involved on the floor as well as in the kitchen. I suppose you could say that Food for Friends has matured as Brighton has matured!”

On my visit for lunch this week, I picked the Sweet tofu pockets to start, the right balance of Oriental sweet and sharp. I ordered a glass of local fizz Gospel Green Sussex Cyder sparkling cider, suitably dry for my palate. For mains, while I deliberated aloud over my choice, diners on a fellow table piped up to endorse the Warm mild ewe’s halloumi salad. Overly sweet salads aren’t to my taste but this was fresh rather than sickly, the wasabi toasted cashews adding some nutty warmth. I was stuffed until they bought the dessert menu, from which I found room for the delicious Lemongrass Infused Creme Brûlée, a divine combination of aroma & flavour although personally they could have ramped up the lemongrass intensity for my tastes.

Ramin feels that listening to customers has contributed to their staying power, “It’s so important for us to really listen and react to what people say and we discuss customer suggestion at weekly meetings – most of our changes are customer driven! This has definitely aided the longevity of the business.”

He continues, “Actually only yesterday we had a table of 3 Indian ladies who said that our sweet potato, aubergine, tomato and spinach curry was the most authentic curry they’d ever eaten outside India and even wanted to take it home with them – now THAT is a compliment! It’s also fantastic when people tell us they are not vegetarian but it’s still the best meal they’ve ever had – priceless.”

While I am tucking into my salad, I overhear the ladies in the next table discussing their potential choices. Now it’s my turn to be a well-meaning nosey customer. I ask them why they chose to dine at Food For Friends, “I used to live in Brighton many years ago and remember the food always being good quality. I’m a ‘veggie’ you see and back then there wasn’t an awful lot of choice. We were lucky in Brighton to have Food For Friends.”

And we still are.

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Claire Jones-Hughes