Rick Stein is to put his name to a restaurant in Australia, reports the Daily Telegraph. He is to take charge of the kitchen at Bannister's Hotel in Mollymook – “a tiny town three hours south of Sydney that he has described as ‘a bit like Padstow’”.
Until now, TV-hero Stein, 62, has – pretty much uniquely among the UK’s celebrity chefs – generally maintained consistently creditable standards across his entire stable of restaurants (of which the most famous is of course the Seafood Restaurant).
We’ve always assumed he has been able to do this because he had restricted his stable of a small number of similar (fishy) operations, operating within a tiny geographical compass (Padstow).
It will be interesting to see what happens to the quality of his UK operations now he’s decided to strike out with an outlying restaurant which is about as remote from home as could possibly be.
Perhaps it’s an inspired move: apparently he fell in love with the area where his new restaurant is to be situated years ago. Or perhaps, as history suggests, the distractions of operating on two continents spell the beginning of the end of Stein as a serious restaurateur… which would be a real shame.
Follow hardensbites Follow hardensparty
Become a Harden's fan
