Dan Kenny launches £50k crowdfund for new Brighton restaurant

Chef Dan Kenny has launched a £50,000 crowdfunding campaign to help open a new permanent home for The Set in Brighton, aiming for an early 2026 opening.

The chef, who first made his name with the acclaimed tasting-menu restaurant within the city’s Artist Residence hotel, is seeking to create what he describes as a 'small and unique' dining space seating just 12–14 guests.

Kenny said the new iteration of The Set would be a “comfortable space that is all about the food and customer experience”, where “things are done a bit differently”. Funds raised will go towards fitting out the new site and bringing the restaurant’s Asian-influenced food, rooted in British ingredients, to life in a standalone venue.

The campaign had surpassed £5,000 in pledges from around 40 backers, with more than 80 days remaining.

From hotel residency to independent venture

Kenny launched The Set in 2015 alongside fellow chef Semone Bonner inside the Artist Residence hotel on Brighton’s Regency Square. The restaurant quickly earned a reputation for accessible tasting menus showcasing local produce and creative technique, and was awarded a Michelin Bib Gourmand in the Michelin Guide for Great Britain and Ireland 2020.

Following the closure of its original home in 2021, The Set found a new base with a residency at Café Rust in Brighton, where it continued to serve a £90 tasting menu from Thursday to Saturday.

The restaurant also introduced its M.A.D (midweek-affordable-dinner) concept - a seven-course menu priced at £39 - designed to make its cooking more accessible to local diners.

The Set is currently recommended in the 2025 Michelin Guide for Great Britain and Ireland.

Looking ahead

Earlier this month, The Set announced plans to close its Café Rust location in January, 2026, as it prepares for the move to its first permanent solo site. The new restaurant will retain the tasting-menu format that has defined The Set since its launch, with an emphasis on seasonality, sustainability and creative freedom.

The crowdfunding page offers supporters a range of rewards - from exclusive dinners to early bookings - to help fund the next stage of the restaurant’s journey.

A Brighton success story

Over the past decade, Kenny’s cooking has helped shape Brighton’s modern dining identity, earning praise for bold flavour pairings and inventive presentation. His focus on doing “something different” has seen The Set evolve from a small hotel restaurant into one of the city’s most recognisable names among food-focused diners.

If successful, the new site will mark a milestone moment - transforming The Set from a celebrated residency into a fully independent Brighton restaurant built on community backing.