Already a subscriber? Log in
At about the same time as the culture arrived, so did the food — Rick Stein opened a fish restaurant in Padstow, and then another one, and then another one, until Padstow was rechristened Padstein. The county wasn’t really into the food: it was those from ‘up country’, in their shiny cars and designer clothes, who really loved the off-the-trawler fresh fish.
After that, you couldn’t stop restaurants opening: Charlie Inkin’s Gurnard’s Head; Will Ashworth managed to persuade Jamie Oliver to bring Fifteen down to his Watergate Bay complex, and Nathan Outlaw won two Michelin stars at his eponymous Rock restaurant.
The Driftwood hotel won a star for its restaurant; the Lugger won plaudits for its boutique style, Watergate Bay went eco and Olga Polizzi’s Tresanton made old-school cool once again. The ‘staycationers’ came in their droves, their Puglian aspirations dampened by too many children and too little cash. Alastair Sawday was to the rescue, creating his Canopy and Stars website to promote childhood nostalgia: yurts, teepees, surf huts, old horseboxes and anything that could possibly be seen as retro was quickly painted, stuffed with Cath Kidston and driven to a clifftop with sunset views and an ‘Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty’ stamp.
So once again, families batten down the hatches of their tents against the driving Cornish rain, although this time they do so with a cappuccino in hand, safe in the knowledge that tonight’s dinner will be ‘hand-dived’ scallops and samphire, not a pasty.
Also in Society
Latest
Comments
Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just $5 for 3 monthsAlready a subscriber? Log in