Reviews - What the Press says....
The Observer Sunday June 24, 2007
Sainted love
Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares was wasting its time offering St Clement's the wrath of Gord. For as Jay Rayner discovers, this seaside venue deserves to become the toast of the south coast
Meal for two, with wine and service, £50-80
It would be easy, I think, to rave about St Clement's. The journey to get
there is so unpromising that the sight of a tidy dining room and a sensible
menu full of dishes made for eating is enough to make someone with an overly
developed interest in their lunch go off on one. If, as Keith Waterhouse
once said, Brighton looks like a town that is 'helping the police with its
enquiries' then St Leonards-on-Sea looks like a town that has been convicted,
done the time and is now out on parole. On my short walk from the station
I passed half a dozen charity shops, an acute indicator of economic slough.
It comes across as a place with more important things on its mind than whether
the fish is local and the vegetables seasonal. It had an air of dignified
stoicism; a sense of itself, and what it is not - which is to say, a seaside
fantasy land for London types trading down to a mortgage-free, raffish lifestyle
overlooking the sea. Real people live here.
Ignore that context and St Clement's becomes less something to rave about
than exactly the sort of restaurant every mid-sized British town should
be able to support, where good taste and great execution rule. No culinary
boundaries are broken here, nothing will startle you, but you will eat very
well. It is the antithesis of the fancy-pants metropolitan joints. Here
the chairs and tables are of the honey-varnished faux-cottage variety that
fill the breakfast rooms of B&Bs across the country. There are some
interesting modern paintings on the wall, a small bar, and beyond that the
kitchen. The waitresses are summoned to collect finished dishes not with
the ping of a bell but by a very human and humane holler. It's that sort
of place.
Those waitresses could also teach more complex establishments a lot about
how to treat customers. One thing that drives me nuts is the refusal by
waiters to tell you the price when announcing specials, as if cost were
as ghastly as a dose of thrush. You are left wondering whether you can actually
afford the chef's today-only way with razor clams and wondering how to phrase
the question. Here it was all very simple. The waitress told me that the
special starter of scallops poached in a butter and herb sauce was £8.50,
the main course of red mullet, John Dory and scallops with pepponata was
£16, and the lobster £22. See! That didn't hurt.
Although there is, as there should be, an awful lot of fish on the menu, things from land figure too. I started with one of those, a slow-cooked pork terrine, which was soft and unctuous, spiked with fresh green herbs and heading in texture more towards the rillette end of things than a pâté. It came with cornichons, red-onion chutney, a little hot toast and - an inspired touch - some crunchy walnuts, which did wonders for the texture.
As I waited for my main I saw all the other things I wasn't having pass me by: the thick slices of pork belly, with shards of crackling, perched on a pillow of mash; the leg of lamb with pommes dauphinoise; the simply grilled plaice and the discus-sized fish cake with a crisp golden crumb. Many of these dishes, it should be said, turn up on the daily-changing lunch menu, which is probably one of the best bargains you'll find between here and Torquay. Two courses are just £10, rising to £13 for three. In the evening add a fiver.
I had the mixed fish special, and it was as the lady had described: fillets of red mullet and John Dory plus one lovely fat scallop, with a tangle of slow-cooked peppers, some sauteed potatoes and dollops of a vibrant salsa verde with more of the same in a pot on the side. The salsa verde had the sort of boisterous garlicky savouriness which, the moment it hits your tongue, you know will have your loved ones pulling faces and recoiling from you. But it was too good. I slathered it on to the plate and poured what was left over on to my underdressed side salad, and banished thoughts of my wife. Sadly, I noticed that even here the curse of the out-of-London restaurant, the white oval bowl of steamed broccoli, had found a place. Still, at least it didn't just turn up; you had to order it, which I hadn't.
I finished with a soft, sticky tarte tatin, sprinkled with a little rosemary, and before leaving took a moment to examine the noticeboard in the front porch. Among the photocopies of approving write-ups and handwritten letters of thanks was a copy of the letter that the makers of Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares send out to every restaurant in the land, enquiring as to whether they thought themselves in need of shouty Gordon's help. It felt as if the letter was there solely for the amusement of the regulars
Daily Telegraph 17th June 2007
"Integrity and Style: A real food hero"
Jan Moir
Are you ready to order?
This week: St Clement’s, East Sussex
On one of those blameless summer days when anything seems possible, we
take the train south, skirting past the sweep of the Downs, chugging onwards
towards the fresh breezes of the coast. En route, a clench of excitement
ripples through the towns and villages of Kent and Sussex, as St George
flags rampage across cars and buildings, mutely advertising the imminence
of another England fixture in the World Cup.
Somewhere near Eastbourne, a lone Scottish flag can be seen, a jagged stab
of blue amongst the fluttering sea of white, valiant but unwanted, like
the last guest at a party. On the streets, few people are on the move, but
in the patchwork of gardens that flash by, children shriek in paddling pools
as the first slurry of charcoal is loaded on the barbecue.
Indoors, eggs are being boiled for sandwiches while links of pale sausages
crouch in the fridge. This is England expectant, in all its everyday, suburban
glory. By midday, the sun is high over the hop fields of the Weald and dancing
on the frilly waves of Pevensey Bay. There's a heat haze over Bexhill, baked
pebbles on the slopes of Hastings beach and it's almost time for lunch.
St Leonards-on-Sea is nearly at the end of the line and now almost entirely
absorbed into the conurbation of Hastings. It rises above the seafront,
where today front doors are flung open and television sets buzz within,
while down in the town centre, the pubs are already full.
In the kitchen of St Clement's restaurant, chef Nick Hales examines his
tray of fresh fish; some baby turbot, sea bass, silver mackerel, Rye Bay
plaice and a codling or two he might use for fishcakes. It isn't a huge
haul, but it is sparkling and fresh, well sourced from the day boats that
are still launched from the beach below, just like they were hundreds of
years ago, for there is no proper harbour here.
Hales brings the tray out for customers to inspect, so they can see and
choose what he is going to cook for them. You know what is so awful about
this gesture of sincerity and good intent? That it is so unusual.
St Clement's is situated halfway up an abrupt slope, its frontage painted
a smart heritage green, its windows polished and its blackboards up to date
and neatly inscribed with what's on offer today. You can tell a lot about
a restaurant by how it looks from the outside, and this one is telling me
that it is businesslike, clean and confident. Inside, the spick and span
theme continues with wooden country chairs and tables alongside an open
kitchen and a decor that is almost spartan.
The menu, too, is clean-cut and unfussy. It is the distillation of years
of experience in the kitchens of some of London's most popular and celebrated
restaurants. Hales worked in, among others, L'Odeon and Le Caprice for 16
years before opening his own restaurant here exactly a year ago. ''It was
irresistible,'' he says. ''The produce down here is fantastic. I live above
the fish market and go there and choose what I want every day. In London,
I could only dream of doing something like that.''
At St Clement's, Hales concentrates on the abundance of local produce and
lets the main ingredients speak for themselves. He also understands what
people want to eat. This is evident in a menu that features potted shrimps;
a good and gutsy pork terrine; fishcakes, roast leg of lamb with peas, broad
beans and mint salsa; duck confit with turnips and sirloin steak with sautéed
potatoes and Béarnaise. There are fruit tarts for pudding and everything
is home-made and seasonal.
To begin, we have a wonderful Thai fish salad, a big bowl packed with fresh
squid, cuttlefish, mackerel, gurnard and a little wild sea bass, mixed with
crunchy slivers of raw vegetables and crisp gem lettuce. All the ingredients
are anointed with a fragrant dressing. The kitchen lightly cooks the ginger
and lemongrass aromatics first, so the flavour will not overwhelm, then
adds a summery burst of lime juice and zest; generous and perfect.
Often, a "platter of local smoked fish" is just an excuse for
someone to creep into the kitchen and pull the plastic off some clammy bits
of ossifying seafood, like peeling a wet stocking off a corpse, then tumble
it onto a plate and charge some poor sucker eight quid for the privilege.
But not here.
What you get at St Clement's is a lovely selection of lightly smoked, plump
fish, including mackerel and sea trout, served with elegant rye bread and
a light horseradish cream. It's a winner, and not just because you can still
taste the flavour of the fish. Have you noticed that badly smoked fish just
tastes like smoke?
Main courses in our delicious fishy feast are a perfectly-cooked baby turbot,
with a more delicate flavour than its grown-up counterpart and without the
royal chunkiness, but still boasting a juicy sweetness. Roasted sea bass
is tender and fresh, served with crisp slices of fennel and hot potatoes
dressed with a herby vinaigrette.
We also order a bowl of asparagus, watercress and Jersey Royal potatoes,
complete with a soft poached egg on top with a sunny yolk that spools southwards
when pierced. Now that's the kind of properly patriotic English salad one
hopes for, but rarely gets, at the end of an English train journey.
Puddings include a freshly-baked pear tart and a lovely whip of creamy rhubarb
fool, the latter always the perfect summer dessert.
St Clement's also has a three-course lunch menu for £13 that today
is soup, a whole Rye Bay plaice with lemon, caper and parsley butter, then
tiramisu - a terrific bargain.
It's no secret that this particular corner of England is not one of the
country's most affluent, so Nick Hales must work within challenging price
boundaries to encourage maximum trade. That he has done so with such integrity
and style, without stinting on good ingredients or cracking cooking makes
him a real, proper food hero of our times.
It may not be luxurious, but eating here is a treat. And after he has cooked
a lovely lunch for all his customers, I notice old cheffy slip next door
to the pub to watch the football match.
Go on, my son. You played a blinder.
Daily Telegraph
Fish from the Hastings fleet's daily catch, confidently cooked by two ex-Ivy
and ex-Le Caprice chefs. Unpretentious ambience and clean, clear flavours.
Local specialities include squid and cuttlefish, plaice, sprats and mackerel,
plus line-caught seabass. Starters from £3, mains from £8.50.
Tuesday-Saturday, 6.30-10pm; Sunday, noon-3pm.
(July 20 2007)
The Times
Hastings reborn: a modern parable of sourdough loaves and eco-fishers
A STYLISH boutique hotel. A chef who has worked at Le Caprice. A beautiful
country park for walks by the sea. An all-organic bakery. It really wasn’t
what I’d been expecting when I visited Hastings and neighbouring St
Leonards last weekend.
More often the news from this corner of East Sussex is less than cheerful.
Sion Jenkins, the former deputy headteacher accused of murdering his foster
daughter at their home in Hastings, is currently being retried at the Old
Bailey. Last month five teenagers were killed in a car accident involving
a stolen vehicle in St Leonards. And Hastings is recognised as one of the
most deprived boroughs in the South East.
But a wind of change is blowing. Six months ago, the chef Nick Hales, who
spent 16 years in London at restaurants such as Le Caprice and L’Odeon,
opened St Clement’s in St Leonards, featuring local produce such as
Dover sole, beef from nearby Hooe and apples from Kent. I booked in last
weekend (01424 200355) — my delicious, and enormous, main course of
Rye Bay plaice was a reasonable £10.50. The restaurant is one reason
diners are now driving from surrounding towns to Hastings, not previously
considered a foodie spot (though the Mermaid on the seafront does excellent
fish and chips).
Earlier this year Craig Sams, founder of Green & Black’s organic chocolate and a Hastings resident, took over Judges Bakery (est. 1826) and turned it into an all-organic food store, adding sourdough loaves and croissants to the traditional buns and sausage rolls. Hastings also has an independent cinema; its historic fishing fleet recently won an award for the sustainable way it catches Dover sole, herring and mackerel; and there’s exciting talk of developing an eco-park on a landfill site between Hastings and Bexhill.
From the visitor’s point of view, perhaps the most interesting development is the opening of the surprisingly exotic Zanzibar hotel in St Leonards.
As I’ve noted before, the opening of one stylish, good-value hotel
can transform a day-trip destination into a weekend break option —
with all the benefits this can bring to a tired seaside resort. It happened
in Whitstable with the opening of the Hotel Continental and the Oyster Fishery
Restaurant and again, two years ago, in Camber Sands, where The Place has
brought cheap, chic rooms and decent food to a run-down resort. Now its
sister property, The Bell Hotel, is doing something similar at Sandwich
in Kent. I hope the Zanzibar and other exciting schemes have the same healthy
effect on Hastings.
Cath Urquhart - Travel Editor
(November 26 2005)
The Entertainer
Restaurant Review – St Clements
In this, the first series of regular reviews of local eateries, St Leonards restaurant St Clements goes under the spotlight.
Located in Mercatoria, next door to the Horse & Groom pub (ideal for pre or post meal drinks), St Clements opened in June 2005 and is run by Nick Hales, a chef of some considerable pedigree, having previously worked for a number of years at the ultra-exclusive Le Caprice restaurant in London. Joined in the kitchen by an ex-Ivy chef, St Clements boasts impeccable credentials, enough to bring it to the attention of both The Daily Telegraph and The Times, each of whom have lavished high praise on it in recent months.
The restaurant itself is smart and elegant, maintaining a largely neutral décor but with just the right amount of dressing to create the perfect ambience for its thirty covers.
Reflecting the number of covers, the menu consists of a carefully selected choice of dishes complemented by two or three daily specials. The emphasis is very much on fresh, seasonal and locally sourced produce; nothing on the menu is frozen or more than 24hrs old. Good simple food cooked well is Nick’s motto and his menu pays no homage to overly pretentious haute cuisine, instead focusing on bringing out the full flavour of the best ingredients available. This is not to suggest for one moment that presentation is in any way overlooked, far from it.
Our party of four visited St.Clements mid week and, in testimony to its growing reputation, the restaurant was virtually full. It should be noted that this was immediately after Valentine’s day, when you might reasonably expect there to be a lull in diners.
My starter of field mushrooms on toast with garlic & parsley was an absolute delight. The mushrooms maintained a full flavour with no hint of the watery texture that can so often afflict them while the garlic and parsley complemented the dish perfectly. My colleagues and variously enjoyed starters of seared scallops, deep fried squid and Parma ham, each to equal satisfaction and delight. I out to point out that throughout the meal, all the dishes were delivered together and while this is to be expected, it is a constant gripe of mine that all too often, in many restaurants it simply doesn’t happen.
Main courses comprised two orders of roasted leg of lamb served with braised red cabbage and dauphinoise potatoes, slow roasted belly of pork with mustard mash and a red wine sauce and finally, fillet of cod on mashed potato with a herb cream sauce.
The two orders of lamb were cooked exactly to specification (one medium, the other medium to well done) and were described rather more in sounds than words, with much oohing and ahhing from our guests. The mustard mash served with the pork was a treat while the cod was cooked perfectly and so delicately flavoured. If I can find any criticism at all, and believe me I have to look hard, it is that the main course menu contained only one vegetarian dish.
Desserts followed and how often do restaurants fall down at this last hurdle, applying just a little less imagination and care? No so here with the dishes maintaining the overall theme of good seasonal and local produce cooked to its very best. Tiramisu, sticky toffee pudding, vanilla panacotta with rhubarb, orange and shortbread were all delicious but the highlight was a Bramley apple & cinnamon crumble & custard. A perfectly ordinary sounding dish that, when executed with the care that Nick Hales applies to everything else on his menu, was transformed into something quite wonderful.
You might think that the catch for dining to this standard is going to be the price, but with starters averaging £6 and main courses between £9.50-£12.50, there is very little to be afraid of. In total, our meal, which included pre-meal drinks, two bottles of wine (one red, one rose) and coffees came to a most reasonable £112.50.
St.Clements offers an exceptional dining experience from a chef who is clearly passionate about food. People so often confuse fine dining with complicated, fussy dishes but Nick Hales knows that is taste and the quality of the ingredients that people will remember not how many ingredients were used in its creation. The sooner you book, the sooner you will be able to go back a second time because, believe me, you will want to.
(March 2007)
Hastings Observer
Focus: St Clements, Mercatoria
After 16 years working in Michelin-starred establishments, Nick Hales set up St Clements restaurant on the striking slopes of Mercatoria last June. And Nick has taken advantage of the rich resources the area to create his delicious and reasonably priced dishes.
He said: “One of the reasons I started the venture here is that the local produce is second to none. I get the fish off the boats, I use surrounding dairies and fruit and veg stockists, and the meat is grazed nearby in Pevensy and Hooe.
“Everything on our menu is seasonal. At the moment, we’re cooking
cod, skate and scallops, and rhubarb and leeks are in season too, so we’ve
got everything at its peak”.
Nick’s high-quality menu has attracted a lot of interest from the
visiting national press.
The Daily Telegraph praised the restaurant’s “unpretentious ambience and clean, clear flavours”, while The Times gushed about its “delicious and enormous” Rye Bay Plaice. But the restaurant has also tapped into the culinary enthusiasm of its immediate neighbours. Nick said “About 70 per cent of our customers are from St Leonards.
“There are a lot of people down here who appreciate nice food, but beforehand they’d either eat at home or travel elsewhere. People are surprised we’ve set something like this up in St Leonards. But you just feel sorry for them, because they don’t realise there is some great architecture down here, and a real sense of space. People are passionate here and there’s a real sense of community that you don’t have in places like London. St Leonards has its own identity and charm and quirkiness.”
The Guide - The Guardian
Saturday August 26th – Friday September 1st 2007
Having heard about the Hastings renaissance, but exasperated and hungry
at 2pm when all provincial England has closed its doors until dinner time,
we discover this jewel almost by chance.
Ex Caprice chef/patron Nick Hales does a wonderful plate of delicately-Smoked
Fish, all locally caught and bought, and a pingingly fresh pan-fried Rye
Bay Plaice. Prime ingredients are Key, and meat-eaters are from demonised,
with a cracking Leg of Lamb and local (ish) Hooe Beef.
High Point Palpably unpretentious
Low point Book at weekends
Capacity 30
Price per Head
Two-course lunch £10
Two-course Dinner £14
A la Carte £40
Wine list £11.25
Vegetarian 5/10
Service 9/10
Music Ray Charles; Cat Stevens (low Vol)
Value for Money 10/10
Style St Leonard’s Revival
www.caterersearch.com (17 August 2007)
St Clement's, St Leonards on Sea, East Sussex
Sixteen years spent working in London, culminating in opening the private
members' club Century after running the kitchen at L'Odéon and working
with Bruno Loubet at the Four Seasons, taught 36-year-old Nick Hales as
much as any chef needs to know about cooking.
But what it didn't inspire in him, he says, is passion. "I went on holiday to France and Italy and began to see how they served food," he says. "Then I read Simon Hopkinson and Rick Stein and suddenly understood why it was possible to get so excited about a bulb of fennel."
So, after a period consulting on the pre-launch menus for healthy fast-food chain Leon, Hales found what he was looking for on a trip to St Leonards, next to Hastings on the East Sussex coast. Walking on the beach, he saw the catch from day boats coming ashore directly on the shingle and knew straight away that this is where he'd like to be. "Usually with cooking, I'd look in books, dream up recipes, then go out to find the produce," he says. "With this, the fish would write the recipes themselves."
Down to the boats
A relaxed, neighbourhood restaurant was the result, and 16 months after opening Hales still goes down to the boats almost every day. He takes whatever the fishermen have: it might be Dover sole, lemon sole, bass, red mullet, mackerel, cuttlefish, pollack, squid or even lobster delivered from a local pot in Hastings. It's so fresh that fish landed that morning can be on your plate by lunchtime.
Dishes are written out on a menu but much is presented as specials, with not even enough planning to merit a blackboard. "The specials change two or three times a night," he says, "so I just wander out to show the diners what fish I've got and how I'm going to cook it."
Flavours are kept classical. Sea bass might be served with a simple Greek salad; smoked fish - from the acclaimed Weald Smokery just up the A21 - is accompanied by horseradish cream and rye bread (£6.50); whole lemon sole comes with a lemon, caper and parsley butter (£15.50); and, on the meat front, roast leg of lamb - from organic butchers Hen on the Gate - with peas, broad beans and mint salsa (£13.50).
Most fish is cooked on the bone to get the most flavour. "The glutinous oils also keep the flesh more moist," he says. He is also happy to take smaller fish from the fishermen which are below the quota size and would otherwise be thrown back overboard, dead. For a kitchen that also butchers its own meat - taking bones for stock and trimmings for pâtés and rillettes - this approach to the catch is an extension of good kitchen management: avoid waste, and work with what's available. He even uses, for a salad, the claws from the spider crabs whose bodies the fishermen have used for bait.
"The French and Spanish seem happier to fiddle around with the smaller fish," he says. "But in this country people want something that only takes five minutes to prepare - probably in case they miss their favourite cookery programme on the telly."
Not that Hales is evangelical. One starter, the only real departure from the European and British-slanted menu, is a gurnard, cuttlefish and king prawn Thai salad (£6.50). The king prawns - like his organic farmed salmon and smoked haddock - are not local but still fish he is happy to buy. "With the organic-and-local agenda you can trip yourself up," he explains. "I love smoked haddock, so I'm not going to not serve it just because it's not local."
For the salad, he chargrills prawns, gurnard and cuttlefish, which he first cooks in a court bouillon to tenderise it - as you would with octopus. These are mixed with typical Thai flavours of lemon grass, lime leaf, lime zest and juice, coriander and chilli.
Hales cook with three chefs in the kitchen, and on Friday and Saturday nights the 30-seat restaurant is filled twice over. With relatively low rents - compared with, say, Brighton - he can price the menu competitively, especially the lunchtime and evening set menus for £13 or £17 for three courses respectively. "There's a good little scene down here," he says. "There is a joke about the curse of Hastings, being 'Once you arrive, you can never leave' - but I'm happy with that."
Sussex Life - October 2006
So say the bells ………….
There’s a new restaurant in St Leonard’s that’s attracting
quite a bit of attention. Jonathan Keeble dropped in to see what all the
fuss is about.
The beautiful East Sussex countryside drifted past as we headed along the
coast road towards St Leonards on Sea. A visit to St Clements Restaurant
is worth it for the journey alone.
The restaurant is one street back from the promenade in an area .which has
clearly seen better days. But St Clement’s is bright, modern and inviting
and is just what the corner of the county needs. It’s painted a classic
heritage green with polished windows and blackboards offering the day’s
specialities. There’s a whole host of fish dishes to tempt us including
haddock, skate and lemon sole.
Chef Nick Hales comes highly recommended having spent his career in London.
He opened St Clement’s just over a year ago and uses his vast experience
to make the menu clean, unfussy and consequently appealing There is a real
emphasis on local produce and it shows.
My starter of Smoked Duck, Beetroot Chutney and Red Chard Salad was fantastic.
The duck was tender and for all I knew, the beetroot was so fresh it could
have been grown in the restaurant garden. When it comes to the fish, Nick
takes full advantage of being able to make his choice from the day’s
catch and he’s more than happy to bring it out on a tray for customers
to select.I opted for a main dish of Skate, Mash, Samphire and Herb Cream
sauce and again I couldn’t fault it. The fish was succulent and mash,
so creamy it melted in the mouth, reminded me of a Sunday lunch at home.
Also on offer, was Leg of Lamb, Confit of Duck and Sirloin Steak for those
wanting a more traditional option.
And so on to dessert and my eyes went straight to the Chocolate Truffle
Cake with Crème Fraiche. The chocolate was ever so slightly warm
and the crème fraiche melted invitingly alongside. Fantastic.
St Clement’s also has a three course lunch menu for £13 and
if our meal is anything to go by it’s sure to be a terrific bargain.
All that’s left to do now is pop next door to the adjoining pub and
enjoy a nightcap. I’d say Nick and his team deserve one too.
Our Verdict
Value 9
Menu 9
Ambience 10