A new restaurant has opened its doors at Brighton’s Amex Stadium, named after a leading figure in the club’s history.
HB’s Restaurant has been named in tribute to the late Harry Bloom, a former vice chairman of Brighton and Hove Albion Football Club who was also the grandfather of chairman Tony Bloom and the father of director Ray Bloom.
The new restaurant is run by the stadium’s catering partner Sodexo Prestige Venues & Events -which also manages hospitality and concourse catering on match days - and offers impressive views over the pitch.
Harry Bloom was a Hove-based motor trader who joined the board at Albion in December 1970, becoming vice chairman in October 1973. He was an astute fundraiser for the club, and set up the weekly lottery scheme which at its peak in the late 1970s was pulling in revenue of £1m a year.
He died on October 18 1980 while travelling on the team coach to an old First Division match at Stoke City. But the Bloom name remains synonymous with the club and the new HB’s Restaurant will stand as a further legacy.
Tony Crosbie, general manager for Sodexo Prestige Venues & Events at the stadium, said, “Harry Bloom was a very important man in the club’s history and we are thrilled to be able to remember him in this way.
“HB’s Restaurant is a fantastic venue with a view right across the pitch, which is second to none and there is plenty of free parking, making accessibility really easy.
“Our dishes change on a weekly basis with various specials providing something to suit everyone. We are passionate about great food and diners can expect superb quality in a fantastic setting.”
The 186-seat restaurant has launched a Sunday lunch menu featuring starters such as pea and mint soup, cheese and toast and cured Italian ham and oak smoked Scottish salmon with celeriac remoulade and capers.
Main courses include free range chicken with a carrot and grain mustard purée, roast loin of pork with crisp crackling, apricot and sage stuffing and apple purée, and spinach and ricotta tortellini with Gruyère cheese and herb crumble topping.
There is also a choice of desserts which changes on a weekly basis.