The openings that actually matter
Eight new rooms in Brighton and Hove worth changing your plans for, from a Lanes shellfish counter to a bakery in Hanover with a queue by half nine.
The list
1. The small-plates room in the South Lanes. Ten seats, a chalkboard, and a wine list that leans Jura. Walk in before seven or don't bother.
2. A shellfish counter off Boyce's Street. Oysters, crab on toast, a cold glass of something Loire. Twenty minutes, forty quid, no coat check.
3. Detroit pizza in North Laine. Thick, crisp-edged, faintly ridiculous. Two slices is the correct order and nobody manages it.
4. Open Bakery, Hanover. Sourdough, cardamom buns, a hill to climb on the way home. Gone by eleven on Saturdays.
5. A new taproom on the Hanover slope. Sussex beer, no telly, dogs at every second table.
6. A Hove tapas room on Church Road. Sherry by the glass and a plancha that never stops. The city's best solo dinner.
7. A Kemptown wine shop that pours until late. Buy a bottle, drink it there, pay the small corkage and stay for the second.
8. A Seven Dials tasting counter. Six courses, no fuss, book two weeks out and eat the best meal of your month.
Our advice
Do the openings on a weeknight. Every kitchen on this list is better when it isn't fighting a Saturday.