etch. by Steven Edwards

A Dining Room Built for Attention

Church Road in Hove has a particular kind of seriousness to it, distinct from the louder energy further east along the seafront. The former bank that houses etch. carries that seriousness into its interior: high ceilings, a monochrome palette, and the kind of Scandi-inflected minimalism that asks you to focus on the plate rather than the wallpaper. The open kitchen runs along one side of the dining room, and the chefs who bring dishes to the table are in full view from most seats. There is theatre here, but it is the controlled, quiet kind — the sound of a room that knows what it is doing.

A 2021 refurbishment expanded the dining room and opened up the basement, now operating as the Ink Bar, a name drawn from the building's previous life as a tattoo parlour.

Where etch. The first camp is well-served. Ginger Pig, The Ledbury in London, L'Enclume in Cartmel, Moor Hall in Aughton, Gidleigh Park in Chagford, Hand and Flowers in Marlow, CORE by Clare Smyth, and The Ritz Restaurant in London. For a restaurant operating on the south coast rather than in a metropolitan centre, that positioning is significant.

The Format and What It Demands of You

Tasting menus in the UK have become a contested format. Critics argue they remove agency; defenders point out that the controlled sequence allows a kitchen to build flavour across a meal in ways that à la carte cannot. etch. sits firmly in the latter camp. The fixed-price format runs at five, seven, or nine courses, with the number chosen in advance as part of the booking process. A vegetarian version is available and, according to published assessments, merits serious consideration in its own right rather than as an afterthought.

The menu opens with amuse-bouches before arriving at the kitchen's most discussed signature: Marmite brioche with seaweed butter. It is the kind of dish that becomes a reputation-marker, the thing regulars reference when explaining the restaurant to someone who hasn't been. The so-called dippy egg course, a more playful register in an otherwise technically focused meal, has accumulated its own following, with repeat visitors noting that the soldiers cooked in duck fat improve on memory rather than disappoint it. These details matter because they describe a kitchen that has identified what it does well and commits to doing it consistently, rather than rotating its identity with every season.

Seasonal produce threads through the menu in ways that reflect the geography of the south east. A spring soup of Jersey Royal and wild garlic is described by the menu simply as 'soup of the day', a modesty that the kitchen earns through execution rather than claims. Sea trout, Dorset lamb loin, and the south coast's availability of high-quality shellfish appear in the kind of combinations, cockles battered, ketchuped, and served alongside cured fish, that suggest a kitchen interested in contrast and texture rather than restraint for its own sake.

The Wine List and the Ink Bar

The wine list at etch. is arranged from highest price to lowest, a structural choice that immediately signals something about the room's expectations. The English sparkling wine section is a particular strength, drawing from Sussex and Kent producers and accompanied by a map that contextualises the south east's wine geography. The Star Wine List #1 and #2 awards in 2024, alongside the White Star designation published in February of that year, confirm that the list is being assessed by specialists rather than treated as secondary to the food programme.

Below the dining room, the Ink Bar operates as a separate space with cocktails, giving the venue a pre- or post-dinner destination that functions independently of the tasting menu commitment upstairs. For those who want to spend time in the building without committing to nine courses, it provides an entry point.

Planning Your Visit

etch. The ££££ price point and multi-course fixed format mean this is not a spontaneous booking. The restaurant's own published material describes the booking process as demanding, which in practice means course numbers are confirmed in advance and the kitchen structures its preparation around those decisions.enprimeurclub.