FOOD + DRINK

CLAIRE ROONEY: PARLOUR BRASSERIE

The Parlour Brasserie at Kino-Teatr, St Leonards, East Sussex is the brainchild of the owner and chef, Claire Rooney, who grew up in Hastings and has worked in professional kitchens across the world. Claire had a notion many years ago that a bistro-style restaurant in or around the Hastings area would be a good idea. Moving from London as a child. She quickly realised that good food was all about local produce. "When you grow up surrounded with creative food and local suppliers, you realise it is part of your makeup."

Food was hugely influential to Claire as a child and the Parlour Brasserie is a culmination of her extensive knowledge and experience working as a chef.

Claire's chef gave six weeks notice before leaving but had every faith in her ability to cook and run her restaurant, and so being the creative person that she is, Claire decided to rise to the challenge.

She was thrown into the deep end, having to hit the ground running and work in the kitchen of a 50-cover restaurant; "a little old lady called Rosa started to teach me Spanish cooking. She was 80 years old, a tiny weenie person with a big shouty personality, who said if I got my Paella wrong, she would kill me! I learned a lot being in Spain, and I enjoyed it."

Over time, Claire increasingly began to miss the culture back in the U.K. and decided to return and revisit the food she grew up with, and more importantly, wanted to cook.

She became a private chef at the head offices of Jigsaw, which suited her creative path. Claire had a strong interest in creating new food, salads and working hands-on with homegrown produce. Jigsaw provided Claire with the opportunity to work within allotments, farms and beautiful herb gardens, which she thoroughly enjoyed.

She then moved into a private cheffing for VIPs, working on yachts in the South of France, prestigious London addresses and meeting various personalities along the way. "Probably the most incredible moment I can think of during my cheffing career, was when Roman Abramovich flew in by helicopter from the city to eat my food for his lunch, as he didn't want food from anywhere else! So he flew in, ate his food and went back to his office in his helicopter. That was quite fun!"

In 2017, Claire and her artist husband Dominik Gacksatter decided to relocate to St Leonards, East Sussex, England, in pursuit of a long-held passion of opening a brasserie within the area.

Claire reveals to having her eye on Russell and Olga of the Kino-Teatr for some time, that a partnership would prove successful and create great synergy. She saw the possibilities and had the belief that her food would be well received if the right opportunity presented itself.

"knowing from friends that the Kino was the central hub and cultural meting pot of St Leonards, Lizzy, a very good friend of mine, approached Russell and suggested he meet me, and after three or four meetings, he realised that I knew what I was talking about."

In terms of the name, Claire was looking for something that would roll off the tongue and after much thought, Claire settled on Parlour Brasserie . "I thought, come into my parlour, the best room in the house, we'll have nice food within a great atmosphere. Much like the feeling of Hygge, as they say in Denmark & Norway; the love of keeping cosy! Parlour Brasserie has achieved that feeling now. We have tied it into that snug homely food that people want. Our kedgeree is now the best selling dish we have on the menu."

Another aspect of Claire's commitment is the reflection of the seasons within the menu. "Autumn for me is about the darker colours; some dark greens and some burgundies, or there might be a bit of amber,

our saffron mayo is amber in colour, our beetroot or dragon fruit going through the greenery of the salad, which has a darker, autumnal feel, we may have some pumpkin features on the menu, like pumpkin pies and pumpkin spice lattes coming up."

Long Boat to Bali is one of several delicious main dishes on the menu, Claire gives us an insight into her thought process when creating an appetising dish.

"I called this dish Long Boat To Bali because it is on the way! I picture this boat calling in on various ports along the way. So the curry leaf and coconut chutney will go via India as the spice trail did, and it will visit Bali, where you also find coconut, so both of those goes together.

Claire goes on to explain. "The coleslaw is influenced by Thai and Vietnamese ingredients, so it has that minty Asian flavour too, and then there is the green sauce, which is a Goddess sauce. This is very much part of Thai, Vietnam and Malaysia, it has curry leaves, lime leaves and lemongrass in it.

So these are the flavours and ingredients, you've made your way to Bali, but you stopped off along the way via Thailand and Vietnam, and it's all there on a plate. And it makes sense on a plate, and it all goes together."

As you would expect from someone dedicated to the quality of their food, sustainability, organic produce and local suppliers are important factors for Claire. "We have the local fishermen for all the fish and all the lobster. We have a local man who provides eggs, the eggs are free-range and organic from Battle, East Sussex. I am attempting to buy a whole cow because it is going to be sustainable. A cow that is slaughtered correctly and used properly is important to me. So you might see oxtail on the menu. Or Jamaican oxtail, which I love even more."

The Parlour Brasserie has quickly achieved a reputation for serving wonderfully cooked food of a high standard, within an inviting, atmospheric setting. So what plans does Claire have for the future? "You create something beautiful, and if it works, if it becomes a known brand, then I would love to have another one, somewhere not too far away. Oh, and a cookbook is definitely on the cards."

Naturally, we have reserved a copy in advance...

By Charles Osaji and Rory Cameron

All images © ImageCrate

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