Rick Stein: Pub food at the Cornish Arms
RICK STEIN smiles if anyone mentions the nickname of his home town - Padstein.
"There are other operators who own a number of businesses in Padstow," he points out. "As far as I'm concerned, what we've always tried to do is promote Padstow, and Cornwall, as a centre for good food."
The comment is relevant - not just because Rick and Jill Stein's latest food venture puts them into partnership with another Cornish multiple operator - St Austell Brewery.
The fact that the Cornish Arms in St Merryn is outside Padstow is also significant.
It may only be a couple of miles down the road, but the pub, which the Steins' company has taken on as a 15-year lease with St Austell, takes them literally and figuratively into new markets.
St Merryn is a budget holiday destination, with its campsite and holiday villages serving a different customer to the gastro-tourism of Padstow's restaurants and bistros. A pub, especially a village pub, is also a different beast to a restaurant.
"There's a real sense of ownership by the regulars of a good pub. As the licensee you're just a custodian," agrees Stein. He believes his status as a local lad will help, although there's no question of being given an easy ride. "There was some concern that we'd make changes. I had one very detailed letter from a lady who lives locally setting out all things we shouldn't do to the pub," he says.
"But I've drunk in this pub since I was 18 - or younger, if I'm honest - and I wouldn't want to see it change. The menu is all about traditional pub food," he says."The reason I took on the pub is to spotlight the quality of traditional British pub food. We hear about pubs closing all the time, and I wanted to make a show of support for the trade."
Although the food is sourced freshly, the Stein operation's strong links with local suppliers - along with its two production kitchens in Padstow, producing delicacies such as hand-cut chips and fresh mayonnaise for the whole Stein empire - have enabled the Cornish Arms to keep pricing competitive.
In the first few weeks of trading the pub's best seller has been scampi and chips in a basket, priced at £8.95 and hand-breaded in the pub's kitchen. "It's a great dish, a pub classic," says Stein. "It's got a naff reputation because there was so much bad scampi served."
The six-strong kitchen team is led by head chef Julian Lloyd (pictured). Padstow-born, he has worked with the Steins for 10 years since joining the business as an apprentice commis chef. Other dishes include steak pie made with St Austell's Tribute ale, also at £8.95, and mussels and chips with the brewery's Clouded Yellow ale as its recommended match - sold at £6.95 as a starter or £13.50 as a main course.
The pub is managed by Colin Hart, who worked at Stein businesses St Petroc's Bistro and Rick Stein's Café until 2005. His most recent role was at the Home House Bar in Edinburgh, named Best Hotel Bar at the Theme Bar & Restaurant Awards 2008.
For St Austell, the deal with Stein appears to be part of a trend. Two of Stein's protégés have also recently joined the company. Paul Ripley has taken a lease of the 15th century St Kew Inn in the Cornish village of the same name, while Mark Devonshire has been appointed head chef at the Pedn Olva hotel in St Ives.
