NO. OF RESTAURANTS: 120
AVERAGE SPEND PER HEAD:
£15 at lunch, £30 at dinner
MOST EXPENSIVE DISH: The
Chilli Pickle Kebab Platter
at £18.50
CHEAPEST DISH: The Tamil
Masala Dosa at £9.50
CRITICAL REVIEWS: “The
menu gives sub-continental
clichés and curry house
standards a swerve, dealing
in smartly reworked thalis,
dosai and Indian street-food-
inspired dishes at lunchtime.”
The AA Restaurant Guide.
“This “inventive” spot has
won a vast following with
the “unmatched flavours and
sheer inventiveness” of its
cuisine.” Hardens
restaurant pro le
Naturally
Indian
Chef-patron Alun Sperring and his wife
Dawn, who is the co-owner and general
manager, have made The Chilli Pickle,
a huge success in Brighton. Sperring
talks to Tandoori
What made you want to open
your own restaurant?
As a chef, I’d been classically
trained in European cooking and
worked in a number of different
countries for over 20 years,
but I always held a particular
fascination with Indian cuisine.
Subsequently, when I worked
briefly at he innamon lub
under chef Vivek Singh, I learnt
a lot from him, but also felt
confident enough that could
do what he was doing. I then
travelled to India and by the time
I had returned, it felt like a natural
decision to open a restaurant.
What made you want to open a
restaurant in Brighton?
his is where was brought u
and lived. Brighton has a very
eclectic crowd, who are also
well-informed and well-travelled.
So it seemed like the right thing
to do to launch here.
What has been the upside and
downside of being a chef and a
restaurateur?
he u side is that you see your
business grow and all the faith
and hard work that has gone
into it, not just by myself but
also my wife Dawn and all the
people that have helped us
and those that are working with
us. he downside is that on a
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023_TM_Jun_Sep_Oct_Restaurant profile.indd 23
personal level, you have very
little time for anything. My son
is six years old now and were it
not for the support we’ve had
from the grandparents, it would
have been very difficult. he
business almost takes on a 24/7
aspect. Dawn is very much the
face of the restaurant and is very
good at multi-tasking, and when
we get home she’ll pick up on
various things, as I will her. So
the work goes home with us.
at as youngsters themselves and
how they deal with spices and
ingredients. It’s just so fascinating
for me.
What is your secret to running
a good business operation?
he ɔ