Category Archives: Brighton Life

Sirena Bergman and more

Brighton Life, Patio bar

Gull About Town: November / December 2025

Leave a comment

The winter skies may be as grey as a gull, but life is looking up for your food loving scavenger as she roots around the bins of some of the latest openings in town.

Just a stone’s throw for her own roof top in West Hill, Patio is a new wine bar on the corner of Upper Gloucester Road and Surrey Street from Luke Williams of Vine Street Tap fame and Nathan Moseby of The Joker and The Geese. A carousel of excellent guest chefs each month are playing with delicious pickings sourced from the best local producers, growers, farmers and food hubs (Shrub, for example) with wines from local Titch Hill. Its opening menu of Jersey oyster, lemon and dulce mignonette, mussel escabeche, toast and lardo, liver parfait, heart skewer, cornichon and rosemary, finished with Brillat Savarin honey toast meant little leftovers to rifle through, but says much about how this cool little wine bar is setting out its intentions.

When news of the opening of Mare, the new Brazilian-Italian culinary adventure from Rafael Cagali in Church Road, Hove reached your gull, she hit a thermal and sped straight down to the back of its kitchen to tuck into the discarded native lobster claw tartlet with ginger and caviar, the leftover salt baked beetroot, mackerel and chervil, the bits of carabineros prawns and peppers with Moqueco sauce, and morcels of choux bun with fig leaf ice cream and fresh figs. The bill is enough to make a bird caw, but Cagali’s rep as chef/owner of two Michelin starred Da Terra, and career which has taken him through The Fat Duck to Simon Rogan’s Fera, is a welcome elevation to Hove’s growing food scene. 

Flat Iron, London’s latest mass market foodie gift to Brighton opened last month to queues around the block as news flew of free beef being passed along to waiting open mouths like baby gulls in a cliff-top nest. But in a week of new openings in Ship Street, your gull let the crowds eat steak and tottered to Taro, a less assuming new Japanese to peck at its bento boxes, freshly made sashimi and warming bowls of ramen. 

Staying with the taste of Asia, she hopped to Namo, the new grown-up Thai nurtured at The Eagle, and now standing proudly on its own. Already featured in BBC Good Food’s 20 Best Places to Eat and Drink in Brighton, your gull predicts that this one will fly.

But as with every bird, what comes up must also come down. And it’s with a heavy feathered heart that the news reached your Gull about the closing of The Set, her favourite restaurant for so many years when it held court in the Artist’ Residence Hotel in Regency Square. Its current home at Café Rust is where the Gull family will be for Christmas dinner, picking at the fried chicken with gravy & trimmings which include Aligot, merguez stuffing, creamed mustard cabbage & butter roasted maple roots, a glorious finale from Dan Kenny, one of Brighton’s chef legends. Great Uncle Gulliver still regales the teen gulls with his tales of the rich bin pickings at the back of Dan’s house in Ho Chi Minh city where he lived for two years before moving to Brighton to work at the Gingerman.

Brighton, Brighton Life, Co-op

The fight for the soul of Seven Dials by Amr Tabari

Leave a comment

When I first moved to this country in 2014, I was desperately homesick. Everything made me cry. If I went shopping and saw something unfamiliar, like avocado hummus, I cried. If it was too cold, I cried. Every reminder of how far I was from home was enough to bring tears to my eyes.

I remember one day, sitting in Latina Deli Café, just around the corner from Albert Road where I lived at the time. Adelia, the owner, served me a cappuccino and asked, “Do you want anything else?” What I wanted to say was, “Yes, I want to go home.” But instead, I stayed quiet, holding back tears. She must have noticed, because she gently tapped my shoulder and said, “If you need anything else, I’m right here for you.”

That moment stayed with me. Latina Deli Café became more than just a café. It was a place of comfort, connection, and community. It was my anchor.

So when I learned that Co-op was evicting Latina Deli Café, I felt a duty to act. As Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said: “Actions are judged by their intentions.” My intention was simple: to show Co-op that Latina Deli Café isn’t just a business, it is part of the community’s soul.

Latina Deli Café represents something bigger. It’s cosmopolitan, bringing flavours of Portugal, Spain, and Latin America to Brighton. It’s where strangers become friends, where conversations flow, and where people leave feeling a little lighter.

I also knew the reality. Co-op had acted legally. They bought the building and had the right to evict. But legality doesn’t erase responsibility to the community. My mission was to make them listen.

So I upgraded to LinkedIn Gold and began contacting Co-op’s leadership directly. I emailed their CEO daily, commented on her posts, and made sure the executive team knew what was happening in Seven Dials. At the same time, I organised a community action, not a protest but a gathering, where I gave a speech announcing that I would boycott the Co-op store in Seven Dials.

This activism came at a cost. Online, I received abuse and suspicion, even from some within the campaign. While I expected to give and receive love, I encountered animosity and doubt about my motives. But I didn’t let that stop me. My record in Brighton, from volunteering with homelessness projects to helping keep our parks and squares clean, speaks to my commitment to the community.

Throughout, I stayed in close contact with Adelia. She guided me with wisdom, correcting me when I needed it, and helping me deal with hostility constructively.

Then something remarkable happened. On the day Adelia announced she felt heard and respected by Co-op and was organising a farewell party. I received an invitation to meet their senior executives in Manchester. After weeks of persistent emails, some strongly worded, they were willing to listen.

I travelled to Manchester with a presentation of ideas. I urged Co-op to invest in Seven Dials, to engage with the community, to repair their reputation, and to show they could be more than just a corporate presence. I suggested partnerships with local charities, Brighton & Hove libraries support, and a number of community initiatives. To my surprise, they were receptive. And yet, not everyone in the local campaign welcomed my efforts. I was told I was “campaigning on my own,” when in reality, I was simply staying true to my values. 

As a proud British citizen of Palestinian heritage, my approach reflects my culture: to act with integrity, to fight for community, and to speak up when something feels unjust.

The question remains. The community doesn’t want independent shops like Latina Deli Café to disappear. But Co-op has acted within the law, and they are here to stay. Do we keep fighting them, or do we take a pragmatic approach, ensuring their expansion aligns with the community’s needs and values?

For me, the answer lies in dialogue, accountability, and realism. Co-op must show genuine commitment to Seven Dials. And if they do, perhaps we can embrace them, not as a faceless corporation, but as a neighbour who has finally learned to listen.

At the end of the day, a difference in opinion does not mean a difference in love for this community. Shops, corporates and businesses come and go (sometimes forever) but what stays is Seven Dials and its people. The community and its spirit are here to stay. 

Brighton Life, Sian Berry

Sian Berry – November / December 2025

Leave a comment

Why are so many people joining the Greens?  

To say it has been an exciting month for the Green Party would be a dramatic understatement. At the time of writing, we now have 130,000 Green Party members, and an unprecedented rate of new people deciding to join our growing movement since the summer. Our excellent, and now hard-pressed social media team is keeping up the pressure, adding a new ‘record numbers’ graphic almost every day announcing another milestone reached. The most recent was that Greens overtook the Conservative membership count. In Brighton and Hove alone, we have over 3,000 members now, and everyone is so welcome to our united and energised team.  

All our members are delighted at the way our brilliant new leader, and my former colleague in the London Assembly, Zack Polanski, has proved to be the kind of effective communicator that political movements dream of. But what Zack is communicating, a hopeful vision for what our country could look like, has always been at the core of what the Green Party stands for. Zack is not saying anything new in terms of Green views on obscene levels of inequality and the awfulness of the rising cost of living, but he is saying it very, very well.  

In our new party political broadcast, Zack articulated what we have long been saying as a party: other kinds of politicians want us to blame each other for the problems they themselves have caused, but we should be looking to blame instead the very wealthiest people who have hoarded money, power and corporate influence at the expense of our communities, public services, and planet. Why is it always put to us that we must face ‘hard choices’ that affect our public services and working-class communities, while multimillionaires and billionaires get off scot-free, not even being asked to contribute a little more in taxes on their extreme wealth?  

The need to right this long-term injustice is a message that is at last getting through to people in our communities. People are crying out to hear this from the Government, or any opposition party, but the Greens have been the only political team to significantly soar in the opinion polls after our conference, a sure sign that people are fed up of mundane and dismal political messages and love to see a party with confidence and fire in its belly.

Against a backdrop of inflamed tensions across the country and awful intimidation targeted at asylum seekers, our new leadership team was emphatic in its conference speeches: migrants and refugees are welcome here. Our unashamed inclusivity, our willingness to argue that migration is this country’s superpower is what is setting the Green Party apart from the rest and is why so many people here in Brighton and Hove are joining us too.  

My constituents’ steadfast commitment to standing up for the rights of marginalised people in our city is just one of reasons I am so endlessly proud to represent Brighton Pavilion, From the rights of refugees, to speaking up for trans and disabled people, Brighton has always had strong values for standing on the side of the oppressed. I am proud to be a member of a party that does the same.  

And unlike other parties, we are not funded by the fossil-fuel lobby or corporations that want to dictate what we can and cannot say. We work only for the best interests of the public – long and short term – and we work in ways that are bottom up and led by our members. If you join us, from day one you can make a tangible difference, contributing to writing our policies, running for office, adding your ideas to the momentum we are gaining. At the next general election, I cannot wait to see a new wave of Green MPs – who I know will be hard-working, dedicated public servants, because they are already hard-working, dedicated local leaders and campaigners.  

As part of our recent boost in publicity, Greens have been accused of no longer caring about the environment. But we have never been a single-issue party and have always drawn the links between effective climate action and social justice. I joined the Greens 24 years ago exactly because of the party’s strong social policies, including a basic income and respect for marginalised people. Climate breakdown is being drastically accelerated by wealthy countries, billionaires and mega corporations but will disproportionately impact those who have done the least damage. Greens are committed to protecting everyone against food insecurity, health crises and extreme weather, not just those who can pay the most.

There are also hundreds of thousands of high-paid green jobs to be created in the rapidly growing green economy. Expanding the rail and bus network to help us all get around, building a resilient renewable energy network that will lower our bills and bring real security, green agriculture to meet food needs and protect nature. There are long-term jobs to be had, and Greens want to create them. 

A recent poll on voting intention for the next general election put Greens level with Labour for the first time ever. This is a huge achievement showing that it is worth voting Green wherever you live. As thousands more join us every day, what has always been true is coming to the forefront: the Green Party is the party to vote for if you want a government that stands up for everyone’s rights, invests in communities, does not cut but funds welfare properly, acts on climate change and builds a future fit for us all. As Zack brilliantly said in our broadcast: “let’s make hope normal again.”   

Brighton Life, Nicholas Lezard

Nicholas Lezard – November / December 2025

Leave a comment

Have you ever had occasion to go to the Royal Sussex County Hospital? Chances are you have, because if you’re reading this then (a) you live in Sussex and (b) one is not exactly spoilt for choices when it comes to hospitals in Sussex. And this is a pity for you because there are only, according to the NHS’s own league tables, seventeen hospitals worse than the Royal Sussex in the entire UK: it’s 117th out of 134.

One wonders why, and what can be done about it. Why: I suspect a massive amount of mismanagement. The place is vast, as you know, and that has to increase the chances of confusion when it comes to one department –A & E, say – communicating with another – the Surgical Assessment Unit. Or, indeed, the SAU communicating with my GP Surgery (the very excellent Montpelier Surgery, for whom I have nothing but praise). As I write, my GP is still waiting for paperwork at least a week old from the hospital, the paperwork they did send over was both inaccurate and incomplete, and when I told the doctor I was seeing that the Royal Sussex didn’t exactly seem to be at the top of its game, she made a kind of face which said: “I know exactly what you mean, but it would be bad form to say such a thing about my colleagues.”

It took them four days to diagnose me with gallstones; and they tell me it will be six months to a year before I can be operated on. That’s quite a long time to wait when you’re in constant pain; pain mitigated by a combination of paracetamol and the kind of drugs that the packet tells you not to take for more than five days in a row, in case you become addicted. Joined-up thinking doesn’t seem to be a speciality of the place, but I am grateful for these painkillers, let’s get that straight.

There was a nice young man handing out sandwiches to the wounded in A & E around nine o’clock in the evening; by that stage I’d been there for ten hours. At least I had a cot to lie on. (I am very glad I didn’t choose the cheese sandwich option: it would have played merry hell with my gall bladder. That’s another thing they might want to reconsider.) And I have to say all the staff, obviously overworked as they were, were also very nice, with the significant exception of the Registrar who finally delivered the diagnosis: he had – let me put this politely – all the charm and patient skills of an American customs official, and also failed to send me away with any information or discharge notes, which is apparently a big no-no in hospital circles.

What are your experiences of the Royal Sussex? I’ll bet loads of you have had worse experiences than mine. I don’t know what can be done to make things better, but we have to start somewhere.

Brighton Life, Food & Drink

Gull About Town: May 2025

Leave a comment

The Gull has been hiding her beak under a wing lately as climate change soars spring temperatures into summer-style heatwaves, and the hoards head to the beach.  Her vision of Brighton and Hove barbecuing locally caught fish on the promenade, whetting the whistle of the tourists and locals alike into the finest selection in the country of restaurants serving locally, seasonal, ethical meat, vegetables, fruits, dairy is dimming by the year. Money talks, and it seems that the human foodie is less discerning than your average scavenger, having very little beef about the source of a steak, however it spent its life. Look at the recent clutch of awards celebrating the Best of Brighton to see where the votes go. It’s enough to make a Gull very glum indeed.

But there’s work to do, and up on that thermal hops your Gull for another swoop around the restaurants which go the extra mile to serve the unparalleled flavour of uncaged meat and to seek out the fruit and veg grown on organic or regenerative farms which put life back in our soil: Amari, Dilsk, Flint House, Little Fish Market, Furna, Palmito, 64 degrees, Wild Flor, Oeuf – just some of the best of the bunch doing the right thing for your Gull’s wider wildlife community.

A quick ask will sort the meat from the cack. The kitchen crew at The Reading Room, led by former Junk Food Project chef, Karen Lloyd appears to have taken a leaf out of your bird’s (bestselling) A Gull’s Guide to Scavenging. Its latest supper menu is plucked from the best of the Sussex larder, and your Gull could barely decide between the early asparagus with wild garlic mayo or confit Pig Cheek with broad beans, apple, caper & lovage dressing. Ever the pro, she manages to find room for both.

 Flying west down the beach, she swerves onto Food Street where the high priests of hospitality at No No Please, Ewan and Mel tell her that they buy their meat from Rogmans Butchers in Hove, all of which is free range, apart from the chicken which is grown in barns. A quick pop around the bins for a little pick at the belly pork leftovers, and your Gull soars up the West Hill happy in the knowledge that her porcine pals have enjoyed a happy life.

Hovering for a quick peck at the brand-new Canopy on Dyke Road before the sun sets, she finds the King of Cuisine, Michael Bremner himself swapping his kitchen blow torch for hammer and saw as he puts the final touches to his latest offering in her very own backyard. 

His first Brighton restaurant, 64 Degrees still sets the gull world a-squawk 13 years after it opened in The Lanes, but your Gull is still mourning the more bird-friendly outside seating at Murmur where genuine food fans could watch the sunset while the local pest control hoovered up the occasional pickings on the patio. 

Now the former home of Coggings and Co, Atelier Du Vin and Brighton Cocktail Company, , this ‘community café’ in Seven Dials, Michael’s home for 12 of the 20 he’s been in Brighton, will be bringing ingredients from 64’s suppliers to Dyke Road. 

Your Gull has watched many a shifty cocktail bar coming and going in the time it takes to catch a thermal, but this co-working, dog and baby friendly cafe with yoga in the garden and plants by Between Two Thorns, interiors by the good folk at Café Rust and coffee from Skylark, the non-profit which supports coffee farmers, all served up on tables made from the recycled wood yard just down the road, might be just what the neighbourhood ordered. As the sun sets over West Hill, your Gull whistles her way home, beak happily now under wing, dreaming peacefully that her vision of Brighton may just come true.