Chichester, despite its supposed wealth - or should I say comfortable lifestyle - has surprisingly few really good restaurants.

Nearby Emsworth has the lion's share, others such as The Earl of March pub in Lavant and nearby West Stoke House skirting the city's periphery as if afraid to pass its Roman portals. The standards in the centre are hit and miss, with inconsistent cooking and service.

Then, like a fresh wind blowing in from the north (read London), Field & Fork, a tiny restaurant off one of the four main streets, bowls in and bowls an ace. Mixed metaphors aside, Sam Mahoney, head chef of the Kensington Place until January, decamped to Chichester with Janet, his wife and business partner. Together they run the bijou 22-seater in a hideaway courtyard, the restaurant on one side, a deli with home-made produce and local meats, cheeses, vegetables and fruit on the other. Both business and couple exude simple smartness and ingrained hospitality.

A café by day, the imaginative menu pulls on Sam's experiences around the globe, with a crab, fennel and Asian cress salad with sweet miso vinaigrette recalling his days in Japan. Smoked salmon, horseradish and crème fraiche on toasted rye bread may have stemmed from cheffing in upstate New York, a new potato, rocket and cheese omelette or purple sprouting broccoli, marinated anchovies and Parmesan perhaps from his stint working with Albert Roux. Pasta, risotto, cheese platters, soups and grilled vegetables with buffalo mozzarella are also on the day menu, priced from £3.50 for Jerusalem artichoke soup to that crab salad at £9.95.

At 6.30pm three nights a week (Thursday to Saturday) the café turns into a restaurant with candles, roses and the velvet voice of Madeleine Peyroux, the fine, sassy Canadian jazz singer. Janet is front of house, Sam in the tiny kitchen just off the bar alongside Maria and Riccardo who were with him in London. Although the three chefs are near the diners they must cook with rubber pots and pans, the noiseless trio offering a two or three-course set menu at £16.95 and £19.95.

Local, seasonal asparagus in a tart is served with poached duck egg and hollandaise sauce, sautéed scallops with a pea and mint risotto and pancetta. Four changing starters join four mains, with red mullet fillet with a caramelised fennel tart and ratatouille vinaigrette or stuffed loin of Sussex pork, parsley mash and mustard.
Sam's inventive mind created a sublime salmon consommé with buckwheat noodles and salmon and dill dumplings, the depth of flavour, thanks to roasting fish bones with sherry, a triumph. The rack of lamb, three superb cutlets cooked to a perfect pink, came with a masterstroke of haricot beans with mint and spinach. Why, even roasted tomatoes, thanks to judicious sourcing, were the juicy biz. A chocolate, pistachio and orange tart followed. Every other chocolate tart I have eaten in this country or in Europe fades into oblivion compared with this gem, the unusually high-sided pastry case encompassing only the finest, densest chocolate.

The breads are homemade as are the black pepper grissini-like sticks offered with drinks. House wines are often given short shrift by uncaring restaurateurs. Here, a flowery Cotes de Gasgogne and a robust Spanish red demonstrate this couple's fine attention to detail. Field & Fork sets the benchmark for other Chichester restaurants – and beyond – in Sussex and Hampshire. My bill came to £29.70 not including a tip. Let's big it up for the Mahoneys.

Source: The News
Location: Portsmouth