So, my name’s Mick Smith.
Our Secret List chat with Mick Smith, the culinary heart behind the acclaimed Porthminster Cafe in St Ives, a stunning beachfront restaurant he’s helmed for over 20 years.
Originally from Australia, Mick “stumbled across St Ives with a backpack” 24 years ago and never left, transforming from backpacker to respected restaurateur. His ocean-to-plate philosophy shines through his seafood-focused menu, complemented by ingredients from the restaurant’s own vegetable garden and foraged seaweeds from the surrounding coastline.
When we watched Mick’s cookery demonstration on the beach during the St Ives Food Festival, it was memorably interrupted by a local fisherman who arrived by boat directly onto the sand, delivering fresh shellfish straight to Mick mid-cooking demonstration, which you can watch here – a perfect illustration of the immediate connection between ocean and plate that defines his cooking.
Despite not being Cornish by birth, Mick has developed a profound connection to the region’s seasonal rhythms, local producers, coastal landscape, and exceptional seafood that reminds him of home. His deep appreciation for Cornwall’s natural bounty and his commitment to celebrating it through food has earned him much respect among fellow chefs throughout the region.
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I stumbled across St Ives with a backpack about 24 years ago and just was staying in the backpackers and just liked the place, and now, I guess, I run this beach and a couple of other restaurants and fell in love with Cornwall.
So, it took a bit of time, but, you know, I love the place.
It’s funny actually. I moved to Cornwall ten years ago. And after I moved, my friends asked me what ‘what’s Cornwall like?’ I’d spent a lot of time here previous to that. And speaking to you has reminded me of it. I described it and I still do to this day, it’s like a cold Australia.
Yeah. I guess it’s a bit like that. It’s got the sand. I think being from Australia, I always had that idea that Britain’s coastline was like Brighton Beach – pebbles, and so, when I first came to Cornwall, I was like… oh my word!
Wait a minute. This isn’t what I was told.
I worked a lot with seafood in Australia and was brought up on the ocean, surfing, fishing, and it seemed a natural sort of migration for me to come here. So, yeah, that’s that’s how it worked.
Brilliant. So, tell us about your place here on the beach. I know a lot about it. But, what’s great about it?
So, Porthminster Beach Cafe has been there for over thirty years now. Like I said, I’ve been there for a bit over twenty. I think it we’ve just tried to celebrate its position, its got a wonderful location. So, we serve mostly seafood because that’s on our doorstep. The lovely fishing port and village of St Ives is right there.
So, we often get fishermen. We’ll see one pretty soon rocking up on the beach with lobsters and stuff like that. And it’s just embracing the ocean. That’s what Porthminster is all about.
And not just the ocean. We have our veggie patch up there. We grow a lot of our own vegetables and herbs for the restaurant. And we also forage all this, like, seaweed out off this point. We get some crazy different seaweeds out there from Pepper Dulse to Lava. And it’s just being immersed in this environment which is very special and celebrating it through food.
That explains quite a lot, because I was at the Porthleven Food Festival speaking to a few chefs there, and lots of them rave about your place, that it is really special, and it’s really nice to hear that from the chefs because, they know what they’re talking about. And it’s not just the location which is unbelievably beautiful. It’s that attention to the local fishermen, the foraging… I can see the rocks there a few paces away where you can grab the seaweed. It’s that sort of passion, isn’t it, that that makes your place really special?
Look, I think it is that. And also me not being from here, I really wanted to connect with the land. Do you know what I mean? And I think that was the first thing and that’s why the seasons and everything growing and the different fish species at different times of the year. I wanted to reconnect to something. and that’s why, I think that sort of forged our processes in the restaurant behind.
Looking at the restaurant behind now is making me a bit hungry so I won’t keep you too long. But, if you were going to grab a bite to eat in Cornwall with some friends what would be your top three recommendations?
First, I’d like to go to The Forge in Lelant, which is a lovely little place. Great Italian food, epic pizzas. If you want a really good risotto or pasta, it’s a place to go. And it’s just on the way into St Ives and there’s parking. It’s brilliant.
That’s probably my first go to. My second go to in Cornwall, would you say, or are you talking St Ives?
St Ives or Cornwall, but Cornwall specifically.
Cornwall specifically. Well, I can’t not say Kota and Kota Kai. I mean, I’m very good friends with Jude, and Jude’s been exceptionally good to me over the years. It kind of feels like I’ve got my Kiwi brother on the South Coast and I’m the Australian one on the North. And I mean, he works so hard, and he’s got such good product. And it’s feels great going over to see him over there.
And Porthleven is a really beautiful, charming place as well, isn’t it?
Indeed. I always say if there was another place I was to live second to St. Ives, I’d like to live in Porthleven. I love Porthleven!
Amazing. And what about places to drink? There are so many beautiful pubs. There are places right by the water. Where are your go to places to grab a drink?
I’d like to go have a drink over at Porthmeor West, The Fish Shed, which is Fraser’s. He’s got a little stand here. Having a beer there watching my son surf when it’s a bit small, and filming him, while having a sip of my beer. I like going there.
The Gurnard’s Head is great. The Tinnners too.
In the summer, St Ives gets a bit too busy. So, I like going out on that coast path and getting away, and there are some great beer gardens as you go out towards Saint Just.
Brilliant. And obviously, you’re using a lot of local producers. Are there any producers that people should visit to grab some ingredients from and try? Anyone that’s really comes to mind where you think, oh, I actually really love what they’re doing right now?
You know, for variety, St Ives Food Company is fantastic. They do a bit of everything. So, it’s sort of like a one stop shop from everything from different liqueurs and alcohol right through to lots of different great food products.
Them, Celtic Fish and Game, Matthew Stevens. We’re so lucky in St Ives. There are so many great producers, but there are three that just popped into my head.
And finally, we’ve been asking everyone for a top Cornish tip. Something to do, see, experience that might not be the standard run of the mill, and we’ve had lots of interesting suggestions. Anything that comes to mind when you think, oh, I really love doing that kind of thing?
Or if a friend was coming down, you’d want to show them something special.
Do I tell you the secrets?
Come on. You can tell us something. Give us one.
Walk around the point here at Porthminster Point and take some little pathways and see what you find around the headland. On certain tides, there’s little beaches that pop up.
Amazing. And I think that’s very typical of Cornwall. If you’re if you’re good with Google Maps as well, get zooming and see where the most beautiful places are. The coastline is unbelievably stunning. And you can find these little hidden coves and there’s often a way down, isn’t there? And you can just take a little bit of food and just go down there and chill and almost be in your own little paradise.
Yeah. And I guess the other thing is my local pub, The Cornish Arms, just up here. It’s a great little place for me to sneak into and have a have a beer. No reception. Love it.