1 week Ago
Sussex’s first seafood boil restaurant has opened, where diners don an apron and rubber gloves before they get stuck in. The Gothic Crab, located on Madeira Place in Brighton, opened last week and lays claim to being the first seafood boil restaurant in Sussex. The restaurant is owned by couple Phil Dono and Anna Pollard and their friend Benitto Tarantino.
Phil, who has lived in Brighton for 24 years, worked in Sweetings, a famed seafood restaurant in the City of London, as a young man before selling seafood in markets and to restaurants. Benitto Tarantino also owns Morelli Zorelli, a pizza restaurant in Hove. The newly renovated interiors of the restaurant (Image: The Argus) A seafood boil is a dish in which seafood like prawns, crab, lobster, mussels and clams, are boiled in a seasoned broth or water and served as a communal meal, with attendees eating with their hands.
The dish originated in the Gulf coastal regions of the South of the USA, including Louisiana, the Carolinas and New England, but has recently been “trending like crazy in London”. “Restaurants have started popping up in London, Birmingham and Glasgow and influencers have been promoting them on TikTok but there wasn’t one in Sussex. The closest was in Surrey”, said Phil.
“My wife and I went to some places which were atrocious – the seafood wasn’t from the English coast, and it was poor-tasting. We thought, why don’t we open a really nice one in Brighton. “Our chef previously worked for Little Fish Market in Hove which is on the Michelin guide, and we serve fresh, sustainable seafood caught off the Sussex coast.
” (L-R) Jordan Graham, Anna Pollard, Phil Dono, Benitto Tarantino and his mum Pina and chef Al Studd (Image: The Argus) MCBC, the fish business run by Love Islander Luca Bish’s parents, supplies the restaurant. At many seafood boil restaurants, the boil arrives in a bag, the contents of which are spilled out onto the table for the diners to feast on. Dining at The Gothic Crab, is a less messy affair, as waiters bring the seafood in enamel trays which are then placed in the middle of the table.
Phil said: “People have already said we’re already better than Riddle and Finn, but we’re not doing it the stuffy way – you don’t have to wear red trousers and a blazer. Waiters bring the seafood in enamel trays which are then placed in the middle of the table (Image: The Argus) “You put on a black apron and get some black gloves and lemon finger bowls. There is good music – Nick Cave and so on.
We’re also cheaper than anywhere else. “It’s a sharing experience. The whole plate goes in the middle, and you reach in and crack, break and open.
” At The Gothic Crab, diners choose from three sauces to go with their boil: classic Cajun, garlic butter and Asian sauce..
