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CHEF DAVE MOTHERSILL’S FIRST RESTAURANT VENTURE

Furna – a new restaurant from Yorkshire-born chef Dave Mothersill – is now open on Brighton’s New Road, offering a multi-course tasting menu that celebrates high quality, British-grown ingredients served with creativity and consideration. The restaurant is the first solo venture from Mothersill, who has earned a solid reputation as one of Brighton’s most well-respected chefs, thanks to his 20-year career cooking in some of the city’s most celebrated restaurants, including The Gingerman, Terre à Terre and The Salt Room.

A deeply personal project, Furna welcomes guests to enjoy Mothersill’s unique take on classic dining, informed by memories from his childhood, travels and extensive culinary career. The Chef Patron’s personality and uncompromising vision is evident throughout, from the sumptuous interior design and considered hospitality, to the well-executed menu, which puts quality produce at the forefront and sustainability at the core. Profoundly rooted in the homegrown, Furna’s name draws inspiration from the Furner family, former owners of the land the restaurant sits on, and the surname’s ancestral meaning of ‘one who sets bread in the oven’.

The menu showcases Mothersill’s exacting attention to detail and culinary skill in taking simple ingredients into a refined setting, with an emphasis on whole animal cookery, dry aged meats and a regularly changing menu that highlights the season’s best produce. The kitchen applies a combination of classic and modern techniques at Furna to create dishes that are complex but not complicated and delight both Brighton locals and visitors alike. Guests of Furna begin their culinary journey with Parker house rolls with roasted yeast butter and smoked cod’s roe parsley and a selection of snacks, including Sussex wagyu with fermented ponzu and cep cream and BBQ oysters with bonito butter, walnut and caviar, before moving on to:

 

Mushroom agnolotti, black garlic, 36-month-aged parmesan, chestnuts, Wiltshire truffle

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Milk brined veal sweetbread, delica, maple sherry, roasted chicken sauce

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Cornish monkfish, smoked eel, celeriac, apple, horseradish, Exmoor caviar

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Salt aged Sika deer, crapaudine beetroot, Agen prunes, bone marrow, bitter chocolate

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Mirin meringue, quince, pine, crème fraiche

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Guanaja 70% chocolate, Difference coffee, pumpkin miso, hazelnuts

An expertly-curated wine pairing has been designed to accompany the tasting menu, featuring a wide-ranging selection of grapes from the UK, Japan, Lebanon, Italy and more. Furna’s full drinks list offers a comprehensive choice of wines from across Europe and the New World, alongside a Fine Wine selection sourced and supplied by Furna’s neighbours Brunswick Fine Wines, while cocktails make use of waste products from the kitchen.

Originally constructed in the Georgian period, the 37-cover restaurant is set in a building rich with history, and has been thoughtfully-restored to create a warm and intimate dining space that maintains features of the original Regency architectural design. Heavy interiors with traditional finishes, including a green ombre colour palette and banquette seating with gold stitching, bear a stark contrast to Furna’s delicate food offering and precise cookery. Tables and bars are made from reclaimed Brighton and Sussex wood, while art depicting elm and oak trees adorns the walls, designed by local artist, Sarah Arnett. The restaurant also comprises counter seating overlooking the open kitchen, an elegant crescent-shaped bar at the front of the dining room and a private dining area designed to seat up to six people. Mothersill has also collaborated closely with local branding and design agency, Good Noise, who have helped to create Furna’s unique identity from start to finish.

On the new opening, Mothersill comments “I’m very excited to be opening Furna later this month and I could not be more proud to see my very own vision and concept come to life in the city I’ve called home for 20 years. It’s my project, it’s come from the heart, and it’s been quite a journey to get here. I can’t wait to share the menu and showcase some of my favourite producers and suppliers from across the country.”

Guests can book online at https://furnarestaurant.co.uk/