THORNE'S FOODS

A fresh haven for food lovers has risen up in Brighton’s buzzing north laine to bring the local, fresh food of a farmers market to the busy urbanites in the heart of the City.

The charming three storey building on Upper gardener street, formally an antiques market, comprises a food shop on the ground floor and a café restaurant on the top.

The shop is deliciously laid out with stacks of culinary treats in every direction – there is everything you might need in an everyday shop, from meats, cheeses and bread, to wine, beer and pantry products. Thorne’s prides itself on sourcing its products locally wherever possible to ensure the freshest and best tasting ingredients which mean that the groceries on offer are usually the pick of the season. At the moment, apples are in season so there are numerous juicy -looking varieties to choose from, and even the carrots and broccoli look  attractive! Certainly a long way from the drab, tasteless choices from the supermarket.

Jason Hurwitz, the owner, personally taste-tested his way around Sussex to pick the best suppliers. Thorne’s try to skip the distributors where they can and deal with farms directly so that the gap between the shop and the plate is that much smaller.

The meat comes from Thorne’s own butchery which is run by the Westdene butchers of Westdene who are experts in all things meat so if you have a query about choice or cut, they’re the people to ask. The wine rack is most definitely worth a peruse with its wide selection of English wines, including the prize-winning Pinot Blanc from Pulborough. My personal indulgence, the bakery section, has a selection of breads from local bakery Flint owl, who deliver warm and heavenly-smelling sour-doughs, bloomers and seeded breads every day.

Locality is key for Thorne’s but it isn’t a hard and fast rule and they love to tickle the sophisticated tastebud by stocking some international delicacies such as the South African Biltong which is a cured beef.

The café upstairs is the place where all the goodies from the store downstairs are transformed into scrumptious breakfasts and lunches, and into a more intimate restaurant menu on Friday and Saturday evenings. The menu changes all the time according to what the seasons have to offer and you can enjoy your meal whilst looking over Brighton’s wonderful skyline

Don’t mistake Thorne’s for being a pretentious and expensive ‘everything must be organic’ type place – Most things are very good value and even beats the supermarket price on many products. And even if you’re on a diet it’s worth a visit - the original flooring and beautiful wooden beams make it a lovely place to potter round on a lazy Saturday morning, and there’s a small gallery section on the second floor displaying local art.

The store is open from 9.30am to 8.30pm and the café will serve breakfast from 9.30-11.30 until they start serving for lunch again at 12pm. The restaurant is open from 6 to 10pm on Friday and Saturday evening. For more information visit the website at www.thornesfoods.co.uk.