At etch. by Steven Edwards, the boundary between artistry and precision blurs, creating an unforgettable dining experience in Brighton's thriving food scene. Chef Steven , MasterChef: The Professionals winner, shares how he crafts ever-changing tasting menus that balance innovation with consistency. From sourcing the finest ingredients to perfecting dishes through relentless iteration, etch. stands as a testament to culinary evolution.
etch by Steven Edwards is known for its ever-changing menus. How do you balance creativity with consistency to ensure repeat diners still have a familiar, high-quality experience?
For us, consistency is really important in everything we do. Every plate of food that leaves the pass has its own recipe pack and SOP loaded into Dropbox that all the chefs and waiters have access to. All the recipes are in grams allowing speed and efficiency.
The menu changes every two months but work starts on the next menu at least one month ahead. Head Chef George Boarer and I will run through each dish making sure it is not only good enough for the menu but also balances the whole experience for the guest too.
You’ve mentioned that your cooking style is ingredient-led. How do you source ingredients, and what role does seasonality play in your menus?
Ingredients are sourced through about 20 different suppliers that we use at the restaurant. When creating and testing the menu we are looking at which supplier provides us with the best quality ingredient consistently. We are in direct contact with our suppliers throughout this process, since when it hits the menu we will be using that product for two months and it needs to be right.
Seasonality plays a massive part in the creation of the menu. We need to make sure that there are sufficient quantities to use that ingredient over a two month period and that we are using the ingredient at its peak. There is no point using out of season ingredients, or ingredients at the very beginning or end of their season as it will affect quality.
What are the main challenges of running a restaurant with a tasting menu format, especially in terms of pacing and portion control?
I would say the hardest part is the amount of food served to our guests. Everyone has different appetites and we want our guests to leave feeling comfortable – not over stuffed or hungry – and that is a challenge we have faced since we opened.
Since we’ve given guests the option to choose two additional courses throughout the meal, we feel it’s helped resolve this issue. Our menu is constructed on the weights of the dishes too so that we are delivering a consistency that can be tweaked if needed but the formula has been working really well. The pacing of serving the food is something that is measured too, but we also can slow or speed up tables depending on preference.
As a chef who prioritises local ingredients, how do you work with suppliers to maintain freshness and sustainability in your dishes?
This is a great question and something that is part of our philosophy here at etch. The ingredient quality comes first. We won't use something inferior just because it has been grown within walking distance from the restaurant. Scallops are a great example. We use Orkney scallops from Scotland, they are hand dived and a real premium British ingredient. We choose these over the scallops from the south coast even though the distance and price are both greater.
Can you share an example of a dish at etch. that went through several iterations before landing on the menu, and how did you decide it was finally ready?
This happens a lot. We have so many dishes that don’t make it onto the menu. One dish that went through a long process was our Skrei cod dish from our winter menu earlier this year. We added a parsley mousse to the fillet and ballotined before poaching. The cooking had to be spot on. It took a lot of time and effort to get the cooking just right so that it could be consistently replicated in service.
Once we nailed this it was difficult getting the right garnish to complement the delicate flavours, but we treated it as a challenge with our other chefs and eventually found the perfect accompaniment with Trompette mushrooms and crosnes.
The presentation at etch. is stunning. How important is the visual appeal of a dish to you, and do you design dishes around aesthetics or flavour first?
Not just flavour but balance has to come first. We also prioritise the way the dish eats. I feel the plating style comes naturally to me with the years of experience that I have. It’s important to make food look as good as possible as the guest will eat with their eyes first.
What are some of the less obvious roles that front-of-house staff play in delivering the etch. experience?
We want the front-of-house team to show their personality with our guests. I want them to be able to engage and treat every table slightly differently rather than reeling off a script. We do a full menu tasting with the team before it goes live and I like them to come up with their own descriptions for the dishes that they have eaten.
You’ve competed in and won MasterChef: The Professionals. How did that experience influence the way you approach your role at etch.?
I wouldn't have etch. without winning MasterChef: The Professionals. It gave me the confidence and platform to set up my own company and open a restaurant. On the show I discovered my style of cooking (with the help of Michel Roux Jr.). I was cooking food that I enjoyed eating. With a show like MasterChef it really puts you outside your comfort zone as a chef. This is something I have continued doing since the show as the experience you get from doing that is amazing.
What has been one of the most challenging dishes to perfect at etch., and what did you learn from that process?
We learn from every dish we create at etch. We keep all the recipes we create even if they don’t make it onto the menu. We learn a lot more from a recipe that doesn’t work than one that does. We love pushing recipes to their limit and that is shown with my signature dish of marmite bread. We now only use a certain brand of flour that gives us the consistency needed time after time.
In a competitive dining scene like Brighton’s, how do you ensure etch. stands out among the variety of restaurants?
We need to be unique in our offering and competitive in our pricing, but ultimately connect with our guests and make sure they return. We want to make every guest's experience as good as we possibly can deliver.
What’s your approach to pairing wines or non-alcoholic beverages with your tasting menus? Do you collaborate closely with sommeliers?
Yes, we are very proud to have Sam Weatherill in our team. He has worked with me since opening etch. in 2017 and is now the wine director for the company. He has taken his love of wine to the next level and is celebrated as one of the best sommeliers in the UK, recently winning Star Wine list of the Year for the best medium sized list. Beating competition from bigger London restaurants is something that we are very proud of. Sam offers a wine flight and non-alcoholic flight that works perfectly with the food we serve.
Looking toward the future, are there any trends in the food world that excite you, or ones you’d like to explore more at etch.?
We try not to follow a trend but instead constantly evolve our brand. Staying true to ourselves but making sure we see improvement every week is how we have been operating since opening.