My Cornish Odyssey: Rick Stein

Dream Escape interview top chef, Rick Stein and discuss sun-blessed Cornish walking trails, cookery staycations and Padstow’s new opening.

A firm favourite with Dream Escape guests, our fabulous foodie experiences and epicurean programmes, we are so often told, exceed expectations time after time. Head chefs from hotels and restaurants across the UK and Ireland, renowned for their signature dishes and world-class platters, have been in such high demand, they have invested in new exciting ways to share their knowledge and talent with eager and hungry-to-learn foodies. Cookery schools, kitchen garden tours, creative afternoon teas, in-house private dining and more has gained in popularity over the last few years, adding an additional layer of glamour to the restaurant industry. While the pandemic has given rise to innovative ways for Michelin star chefs to continue reaching out to people with their unrivalled creations. Plus, with the importance of ingredients, food-to-fork, local suppliers and using organic wherever possible, dishes have never tasted better.

The provenance and location of a chef ’s ingredients is fundamental to the overall texture and taste, and can help to build a chef ’s brand and reputation, something Rick Stein himself knows only too well. While many chefs may make a mark on a particular corner of these British Isles, none are so intrinsically linked with an area than Rick Stein and his beloved Cornwall. His passion for the the rolling surf and boat-fresh fish of the West Country has spanned his lifetime and it was his first restaurant, The Seafood Restaurant, on the harbourfront in Cornwall’s Padstow that won him the first of much international acclaim.

His hugely successful cookery book and TV career has seen him crisscross the globe, unearthing boundless flavours – aromatic curries, sweet-charred BBQ, Greek odysseys and age-old French traditions – that slowly infuse his menus. His small chain of fish restaurants now dot the South of England, yet it is his childhood haunt of Cornwall that lures him back time and time again.

Rick Stein's Cookery School

“I think the net result of lots of travel is actually to accentuate the unique qualities of somewhere like Cornwall rather than to diminish them, simply because when you’ve seen it all you start looking at our own sandy beaches, seafood – even the smell of seaweed on the rocks at Harlyn – with greater love,” explains Rick.

“My parents had a house at Trevose Head from the late 1930s so my memories go back to when I was extremely tiny in the early 50s; swimming at the beach below our house which is now where the lifeboat house is, buckets and spades, blue and very uncomfortable woollen swimming costumes,”

In 1975, the chef set up a small fish restaurant on the harbourside in Padstow with his then wife Jill and over the ensuing decades The Seafood Restaurant became the pinnacle of British dining – chefs including Nathan Outlaw clamoured to train under him and patrons waited weeks for a table.

“I originally got the idea for a fish restaurant in Padstow from a long-departed hole in the wall restaurant near the quay in Falmouth called Mark’s Seafood Bar, it was somewhere where you could go in for mussels and fish pie but also grilled lobster and Dover sole and they didn’t worry if you wore your yachting wellies and Cornish smock,” he adds.

The Seafood Restaurant certainly feels classier than a yachting wellies establishment, but the sea breeze wafts through the open panels of glass that wrap around the frontage and the dining room is cool, coastal and drenched in natural light.

“I love Padstow for its strong sense of identity,” Rick says. “There are Cornish coastal towns that seem to exist almost solely for the summer season, and all but die at the end of October, but Padstow is very different. There’s a year-round community here, which makes the town feel very much alive, even in the depths of winter.”

There are families that have been fishing out of Padstow for more generations than they can remember, and it’s a joy to watch the boats come in – it’s such an important part of our heritage.”

Today, Padstow continues to be at the heart of the chef ’s empire – and as a new offering for Dream Escape guests, Rick has just opened the Rick Stein Coffee Shop working with Cornish-born coffee roasters Origin Coffee. The new coffee emporium is in fine Stein company with the small harbour town of Padstow, where Dream Escape guests can also enjoy the 10-room St Petroc’s bistro restaurant, café, deli, patisserie, Stein’s Fish & Chips on the quayside, a fisheries and seafood bar, and a fishmonger, along with beautiful staycation spots at Stein’s four-room Prospect House and Bryn Cottage, in addition to 16 stunning rooms at The Seafood Restaurant.

After an incredibly tough year for the hospitality trade as a whole, this summer the Rick Stein Cookery School – in Padstow, of course – has reopened its doors for Dream Escape guests to experience in-person lessons once again.

Celebrating its 21st year, the team is thrilled to be welcoming avid foodies and budding chefs back to the harbour.

Rick adds: “I started the school to give the chefs at The Seafood Restaurant a bit more intensive training preparing and cooking fish and shellfish. To keep the lecturers, all chefs from the restaurant, gainfully employed I ran a few courses for aspiring cooks, it was an instant success with the public and now it’s hard to find slots for the chefs, but the principle remains the same, teaching by chefs who really know what they’re doing.” Championed as one of the finest places to learn how to cook fish – students can watch the fish being landed on the estuary from the school window, before being taught how to prepare, cook and serve it to perfection.

Dream Escape love the new season of cookery courses led by the school’s Head Chef Lecturer, Nick Evans and Chef Director of Rick Stein restaurants, Jack Stein (Rick’s middle son), with popular sessions including the all-encompassing ‘Fish & Shellfish’, which includes fishing trips around Padstow and visits to local Cornish farms, the new ‘Indian Seafood’ course and the 2021 Celebration Course, which centres around dishes honouring Rick’s new book ‘Secret France’, and perfecting six of Rick Stein’s most famed dishes.

“I love the cookery school because everyone seems to leave very happy indeed,” Rick continues. “I think they have a far greater understanding of what truly fresh seafood is like plus, because we run it in a very relaxed and informal way, they are not intimidated and soon realise they can cook the dishes as well as us. We also make sure that there’s plenty of nice cold white wine when they are sitting down to eat what they’ve cooked, which seems to be rather popular.”

As with many top chefs, dining out is a savoured but rare treat. “I’m slightly ashamed to say I don’t get out much but I love going to Nathan Outlaw’s and Paul Ainsworth’s and I know our staff enjoy eating at places including the Gurnard's Head and St Kew Inn.”

A keen walker, Rick will also be found enjoying the staggering scenery near his Cornish home.

His favourite beaches along the north Cornish Coast include Harlyn, Trevone, and St George’s Well in the estuary, while his favourite walking trails begin just footsteps from his beloved Padstow.

“The Camel Trail is very scenic, easy walking, both from Padstow to Wadebridge and then onto Bodmin with a sneaky stop off at Camel Valley winery. Or catch the ferry over to Rock and walk along Daymer Bay to Bray Hill and around the back to get to St Enedoc Church, where Sir John Betjeman is buried.”

Family photo at Rick Stein, Sandbanks, from left-right, Rick Stein, Charlie Stein, Jack Stein, Gill Stein and Ed Stein.

From childhood memories on sandy beaches to new ventures, this sunniest corner of England remains Rick’s heart and soul for good reason.

With new doors opening and the buzz returning to the restaurant trade, Rick will no doubt have more plans afoot and his love affair with Cornwall is set to continue for decades on.

Find out more about a full foodie Cornish experience when planning your next Dream Escape, to include staying at one of Rick Stein’s rooms around Padstow, which blend coastal design with luxury living.

From the elegance of St Edmunds House, where six rooms enjoy a private garden with views across the Camel Estuary, to the contemporary boutique hotel rooms above The Seafood Restaurant itself or the self-catering sanctuary of romantic Bryn Cottage. The accommodation is some of the finest to be found in and around Padstow.

Dream Escape guests might also enjoy an exclusive dining experience at Rick’s charming bistro in Padstow, St Petroc’s, featuring low wooden beams and cosy fireplaces and its ten rooms offer more stunning coastal accommodation with some rooms enjoying picturesque sea views. Planning on exploring more of the UK and Ireland? Please ask about Dream Escape’s other gastronomic journeys such as the Scotland Foodie Adventure, the Northern Ireland and Burren Food Trails or the Galway International Oyster and Seafood Festival to name but a few.

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David Tobin, Owner & Director "I have spent so many wonderful summers around Devon and Cornwall. Exploring the spectacular coastline with its charming fishing villages was always a treat and a great escape from the big city. It literally became my second home, back in the day, when I bought my very own bolthole in the picturepostcard village Port Isaac in North Cornwall. A definite one for the list for getting away from it all."

⬥ david@dreamescape.co.uk → dreamescape.co.uk