Olive oil
Ayvalık, Türkiye
North Aegean coast
Cold-pressed from a small grove our friends Mehmet and Eda farm just inland from the sea. Arrives by the case every season.
Mavi brings together the flavours of Anatolia and Brighton, serving Turkish mezze that celebrate authentic tastes, seasonal local produce, and the timeless craft of sharing food.
Head chef & owner
Eighteen months ago Aysel turned a corner shop on Madeira Drive into a kitchen, painted the walls cream and the woodwork burgundy, and started cooking the food she grew up with on the Aegean coast. The menu changes most weeks; the hospitality doesn't.
Day-boat fish from Newhaven, vegetables from South Downs growers, olive oil from a small grove in Ayvalık, and spices carried back twice a year from the markets of Gaziantep. Nothing too clever. Salt, smoke, lemon.
"Slowly, generously, with too many plates — that's how I was fed growing up, and that's how I want to feed people here."
A short menu like ours lives or dies by its sourcing. These are the people the kitchen leans on, week after week.
Ayvalık, Türkiye
North Aegean coast
Cold-pressed from a small grove our friends Mehmet and Eda farm just inland from the sea. Arrives by the case every season.
Newhaven harbour
Ten miles east
The Tuesday morning run — whatever's running, landed that night, on the mangal by service. Levrek, mackerel, hamsi when the season's on.
South Downs growers
Sussex hills
Heritage tomatoes, hispi cabbages, soft herbs — picked the day before, dropped at the kitchen door. Anything we can't grow nearby, we don't put on the menu.
Gaziantep markets
South-east Türkiye
Sumac, pul biber, Antep pistachios. Carried back twice a year in the chef's suitcase — no substitute we have found yet.