MasterChef: The Professionals winner and Hove-based chef Steven Edwards has been chosen to create menus for a new immersive hospitality experience at The Amex with Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club.

The Premier League team, currently sitting sixth in the league will launch The Tunnel Club at The Amex in time for the 2023/2024 season, with Steven Edwards in charge of the menus for members.

The concept for The Tunnel Club has been introduced by Russell Wood, Head of Commercial at Brighton & Hove Albion. The experience is designed to take fans to the very heart of the match.. The one-way glass walled restaurant will see through to the players' tunnel and the changing menu will be designed and managed by Steven Edwards and the Club's catering team.

Russell says: “The Tunnel Club experience will elevate our hospitality to one of the best in the country and it was key that the menus reflected these ambitions. Steven is a fantastic chef who has a great reputation locally, not only for his food but his support of local causes and championing Sussex - I can't wait to see what he has in store for our Tunnel Club members.”

Steven, who regularly plays charity football matches and was trained professionally in his youth, is delighted to be involved in what he believes is an exciting new era for the Club. He won MasterChef: The Professionals in 2013 and opened etch. by Steven Edwards in 2017 following a series of successful pop ups. The award-winning restaurant was last year ranked 58th in the Estrella Damm National Restaurant Awards and won the Tripadvisor Traveller's Choice award. He opened Steven Edwards at the Bingham Riverhouse in Richmond, London in early 2020 and the restaurant has received high praise from food lovers and restaurant critics.

Steven says, “As a local chef, it's been fantastic to see the rise of Brighton & Hove Albion in the past few seasons and I'm beyond excited to be involved in The Tunnel Club experience.  It's a privilege that the Club Members will be enjoying dishes that I've created and I look forward to heading down to the home matches as often as I can to cheer on the team.”

The Tunnel Club experience members can look forward to British dishes refined and elevated to Steven's exacting standards and with the sense of fun he brings to simple, nostalgic dishes. The menu will offer three options for starter, main and dessert and Tunnel Club members can look forward to Steven's much loved Marmite bread with seaweed butter and dishes such as Slow cooked Trenchmore beef rump with poached and roasted salsify, salsify crisps and chicory jam. Those looking for some sweet indulgence can enjoy Popcorn soft serve ice cream and a finale of Valrhona Chocolate crémeux with coriander ice cream and burnt local honey.

Where possible, ingredients will be sourced from Steven's preferred suppliers in celebration of the fantastic produce available in the region. 

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Notes to editors

About Steven Edwards

Steven Edwards is a classically trained chef restaurateur and was the youngest winner of BBC MasterChef: The Professionals when he won in 2013.

Prior to competing in MasterChef: The Professionals. Steven trained with some of the country's leading chefs, including Raymond Blanc, before moving to Horsham in 2008 and joining the brigade at South Lodge Hotel - a five star country house hotel in the heart of Sussex.

There, he started off as a Chef de Partie, in the newly built Pass Restaurant under the guidance of renowned Michelin starred chef Matt Gillan. He moved his way up to Sous chef before becoming Head Chef of the hotel's second restaurant the Camellia at just 25 years old. In this time he also won Sussex Young Chef of the Year in 2010.

Steven followed up his MasterChef: The Professionals success by creating the company etch. backed by local entrepreneur, Steve Barrey, initially doing pop up restaurants all over the country. After three successful years and pops ups, most notably at the Latymer, Blenheim Palace and Nyetimber Vineyard, Steven found the perfect place to launch his first restaurant. In March 2017 Steven opened etch. by Steven Edwards in Brighton & Hove.

etch. offers a choice of five, seven or nine course monthly changing menus. Sustainability is at the heart of the menu, with head chef George Boarer changing menus regularly to avoid overusing ingredients and using the best local produce when it's at its peak.

Since it opened, etch, has been awarded a number of accolades including 3 AA rosettes, a Michelin plate and Sussex Food & Drink Best Newcomer in 2018.  It was ranked 16th in the Harden's UK restaurant guide in 2019 and voted Best Breakthrough runner up in the GQ Food and Drink Awards.

Steven has built up a team that has grown in responsibility and helped to create a warm and relaxed environment in which to enjoy exquisitely prepared seasonal produce, carefully selected wines and local beers, non-alcoholic drinks and carefully crafted cocktails.

In March 2020, Steven launched his second restaurant Steven Edwards Riverhouse in Richmond, London. An à la carte restaurant that celebrates an ever evolving menu showcasing local and British produce.

In July 2021, etch. by Steven Edwards closed for an extension and refurbishment.
The restaurant reopened in late October that year with 12 additional covers and a new subterranean cocktail bar, Ink.

https://www.steven-edwards.co.uk/home

About Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club and The Tunnel Club

Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club are competing for a sixth consecutive season in the Premier League. The club's home ground, The American Express Community Stadium, best known as The Amex has a 31,800-capacity, opened in 2011.

Founded in 1901, and nicknamed the "Seagulls" or "Albion", the club narrowly avoiding relegation from the football league entirely in the late 1990's. A successful boardroom takeover and investment in the club by chairman Tony Bloom culminated in the club being promoted to the top-flight in 2017.

2021/22 season saw the highest ever league finish for the Albion who continue to defy expectations in sustaining its position in the world's biggest football league. Building a whole new generation of supporters and admirers from across the globe and showcasing the best of Sussex by the Sea.

The Tunnel Club is the newest and most innovative match experience yet at The Amex

Opening for the start of the 2023/24 season, the Tunnel Club offers an immersive experience and exclusive window into the Premier League match day.  Members will view the players, managers, officials and media through one-way glass dividing the tunnel and restaurant.  They will enjoy the pre and post-match activity in the tunnel and watch the match from premium seats located on the half-way line at the tunnel entrance, above the dugouts.  The dining experience designed by Steven Edwards add the finishing touches to the most exclusive match experience.

Enquiries about seasonal membership for the Tunnel Club and the 1901 Club should contact our team at tunnelclub@brightonandhovealbion.com or call 01273 668855.

For high resolution images and more details please call Michelle Diederichs on 07814 028 664 or email: michelle@koyahpr.co.uk.