I’m Jack Stein. I’m the head of cheffing at Rick Stein Restaurants – chef director.
In this sun-drenched episode of The Secret List, we’re joined by Jack Stein on St. Ives Beach during the food festival.
As Chef Director of Rick Stein Restaurants, Jack oversees all kitchen operations across the celebrated family empire that’s marking its 50th anniversary this year. Having started as a 14-year-old kitchen porter in 1994, Jack brings a lifetime of experience and deep Cornwall connections to our conversation.
With characteristic Stein enthusiasm, Jack provides a perfect blend of established favourites and emerging discoveries across Cornwall’s vibrant food landscape.
The Secret List guide is part of how we create exceptional experiences for guests staying in our Cornwall Airbnb collection. We’re Cornwall’s Airbnb management experts. Learn more >
Here we are on St. Ives Beach in the glorious sunshine. Day two of the food festival here. And I’m here with a rather interesting chap.
So, I run all our restaurant kitchens.
That sounds like an interesting job. Have you been doing it quite a long time?
I started in 1994 as a kitchen porter at 14 years old. And I’ve been there ever since apart from university. So, I loved the fact that I could move back to Cornwall and work here in the tourism industry.
I’ve been very fortunate and loving it. And I’m loving being down here at St. Ives today because it’s the best weather I’ve seen at a food festival in a while.
Obviously, your family doesn’t need any introduction. What’s going on with the restaurants at the moment? Is there anything new happening?
So, we’re celebrating fifty years this year. It’s our fiftieth anniversary, which in restaurant terms is kind of geographical time. We’ve had a night where dad went back to his roots and was DJing because that’s how he started off – it was a nightclub.
And then in the autumn, we’ve got a load of chef series events with some of our chefs that have worked for us. People like Nathan Outlaw and James Knappett and people like that. So, lots going on. And just enjoying the fact that we’re having a good period of weather in Cornwall.
It’s amazing. For anyone listening, it is absolutely stunning. There are about three clouds in the sky. It’s really hot, with a lovely little breeze so we’re not overheating.
And it’s very difficult not to drink the beers too quickly.
And speaking of beers, if you were going out for a drink with your mates in Cornwall, where would you head? What are your top places that you really, really like to go to?
So, for drinks, I really like the Oyster Catcher in Polzeath. I used to go there a lot as a kid. That was kind of a night out. And also the Dog House in Saint Merryn. So, it’s a little family owned bar with a pizzeria next to it, and it’s just amazing. All the family run it and it’s beautiful.
That sounds lovely. And then what about food? If you’re going out?
So, my favourite place is at the Gurnard’s Head down in Zennor. I’ve always talked about that. I think there’s just something about that’s very special. It’s got rooms. I think in hospitality, one of the best things you can do is give somebody a meal and they want to stay the night. They want to carry on. They want to have some more drinks. And the rooms there are beautiful. So that’s my number one.
I love the Hidden Hut down in Portscatho. I think Simon’s great. I think he’s a real gem for a walk. You don’t expect to go on a walk and find food like that. It’s just amazing.
And then The Rocket Store in Boscastle, which is small plates and little grill, is really doing some amazing food. So, those my three. Rocket Store is probably the least well known. I think Hinden Hut is quite well known, and I’ve been going on about the Gurnard’s Head for fifteen years. So, anyone who’s listened to me probably knows about it, but they’re my three.
Brilliant. And what about food producers? You must have a lot of your own fishermen that are bringing you shellfish and fish for the restaurants. But is there anyone else that’s doing anything interesting with ingredients that you really like?
Yes. So, Philip Warren, the butchers in Launceston, they’re just the best in the world. And their client base in restaurant terms is unbelievable. When you go and look at their meat aging rooms and you see where some of the produce is going, it’s to the best restaurants in the country. And if you’re driving past Launceston and you want to go to a butcher shop that is just literally there, it is unbelievable and world class.
And he’s taken a lot of inspiration from chefs, what chefs want. A lot of butchers will sometimes be like, oh, I’m not going do that because it loses me yield. But Philip and his son, Ian, are unbelievable. So, they’re my favourites in terms of meat.
I really love Rodda’s, man. I love Rodda’s. They’re amazing, like family.
And St. Austell Brewery. I know it sounds a bit strange, but they’re all family businesses like us that have been here for a long time and not fifty years. They’ve been here a lot longer.
And I really, really love Camel Valley sparkling wine. I just think Bob and Sam Lindo do such an amazing job there. It’s world class.
On the vegetable side of things, there’s obviously Ross Geach. I’ve been demoing with today. Just some amazing produce just up the road from us.
We’re quite lucky in Padstow. We’ve built these relationships over a long time, but there’s people all over the county that I don’t even know about that I’d love to find. So, yes, we’re very fortunate.
There’s a lot of a lot of passion in in the county, isn’t there? And there’s a lot of producers. They are doing it to make money, but they primarily started by trying to produce something really, really good.
And just to wrap up, what about a top Cornish tip? For somebody who is either visiting Cornwall or down here and just wants to do something or experience something special.
Well, that’s a good question. So, the bluefin tuna fishery that’s only just started up recently. So, for the last two years, we had a small quota for it for the restaurants. But you can actually fish for them on the South Coast. It’s quite complicated because the weather can be quite difficult because it tends to be September, October, November.
But my brother went. And while I’ve been fishing with my brother for twenty years trying to catch salmon, we’ve barely caught anything. And they had nine!
So it’s catch and release.
Nine, 100 pound tuna in a day!
And I think if you’re a fisherman, that is a really untapped resource and it’s great for the fishing communities because they’re not landing them or selling them. But it’s just a great way for them to make money outside of the season.
Brilliant. That that sounds like a proper adventure with a bit of a fight involved as well.
My brother downplayed it. If that would be me, it’d been all over my Instagram. And I’d, be showing how long it took and all the process.
My brother just came back. I was like, “Did you get any?” He’s like, “Yeah. We had nine”. “So, you had nine???” He’s like, “Yeah. I had three myself. I had to give the rod to another guy because it took half an hour to land”.
That sounds amazing. We better look that up.
Thank you very much for your time.