Seasons Café prided itself on its locally-sourced seasonal food, and award-winning breakfasts. Now under a new owner, but with the same head chef in the kitchen, the one-time café has been transformed into North Laine’s newest restaurant following a two-week refit.

And despite only opening on Monday, Scott’s Bistro has already taken bookings for the weekend and its Christmas menu.

“When we started Seasons Café it was a brand new venture,” says former owner turned head chef Ken Handley.

“We were trying to find out what people wanted, and that took a long time.

“After a few years we realised there were things we should have done at the start – and this is where Jason has come in.”

A self-professed lover of food, Jason Scott has moved from the world of business into the restaurant trade, having spent the past few months working alongside Handley in his kitchen to get a feel for how the place works.

He still refers to himself as the second chef, while his partner Carole Gwilliam is in charge of the front of house.

“We bounce off each other,” says Scott.

“I have always been into cooking and food, but it was a bit of a rude awakening when I first started working in the café kitchen.

“It’s about passion and creativity – we don’t want to be like Jamie Oliver’s restaurant, we want to be Scott’s Bistro.”

When developing the menu the pair looked at what had worked at the Seasons Café, and retained Handley’s passion for serving the right food at the right time.

Lovers of the café’s popular free-range chicken caesar salad, the much sought-after chicken ballotine and the seasonal risotto, which currently features locally sourced squash, will be relieved to hear they are still on there, and set to remain.

But new additions are the homemade Scott’s burger, and changing seasonal specials which will be following a two-week rotation – currently they are moules mariniere and beef bourguignon.

“We’ve tried to keep the menu simple,” says Handley.

“It’s about high quality food, sourced as locally as possible at a price people can afford. We want people to come down once a week, not once a month.”

All the meat and eggs served in the bistro are free-range, while the fish is landed from the Channel, with no tuna or swordfish in sight. Goat’s cheese comes from Nut Knowle Farm, north of Hailsham, while the bacon in the well-loved breakfasts is all British.

Plus, behind the bar the bistro has ales from Horsham’s Hepworth Brewery.

“Ken built up a loyal fanbase for his breakfasts and a lot of regular customers,” says Scott.

“Some of them are working their way through the menu, and are giving us regular feedback. We can’t do everything, but we can try to give people what they want.”

Alongside their food menu, the bistro offers a range of wines with nothing, aside from their champagne, costing more than £18 a bottle. At present the bistro is offering a good value lunchtime special from Monday to Friday – a small glass of house white or red for just £2 with any lunch order between noon and 3pm.

And there is more to come. The bistro is also preparing a Christmas menu, with promises of no turkey in sight, and Scott even mentions the bistro’s Valentine menu in February. Out of hours the bistro is happy to open for business breakfasts and special occasions.

“We are aiming for a Michelin star for our food,” says Scott.

“It’s what any restaurant which wants to be successful should aim for – happy customers and industry recognition for our chef.”

* Open noon to 4pm Mon to Wed, noon to 10pm Thurs and Fri, 10am to 10pm Sat, 10am to 5pm Sun. Breakfast served until 11.45am Thurs to Sun. Website (currently under construction) - www.scottsbistro.com