Rick Stein

Christopher Richard Stein,CBE(born 4 January 1947) is an English celebrity chef, restaurateur, writer and television presenter. Along with business partner (and first wife)Jill Stein, he runs the Stein hotel and restaurant business in the UK. The business has a number of renowned restaurants, shops and hotels inPadstowalong with other restaurants inMarlborough,WinchesterandBarnes. He is also the head chef and a co-owner of the "Rick Stein at Bannisters" restaurants inMollymookandPort StephensinAustralia, with his second wife, Sarah.He writes cookery books and has presented numerous cookery series for the BBC.
Of German descent, Christopher Richard Stein was born on 4 January 1947inChurchill, Oxfordshire, to Eric Stein (1908-1965) and Dorothy Gertrude née Jackson (1909-1999).He was born and brought up on a farm.
Stein was educated at Wells Court, a preparatory school just outsideTewkesbury,then Wells House, the Court's bigger sister-school atMalvern Wells, and thenUppingham School. He tookA-levelsin English, history and geography, but failed all of them. He moved to acram schoolinBrighton, gaining E grades in English and history.
Stein partially completed a hotel management traineeship withBritish Transport Hotelsat itsGreat Western Royal HotelinPaddington.He worked there as a chef for six months. Distraught by his father's suicide, at age 19 he went toAustralia, where he worked as a labourer in anabattoirand as aclerkin anaval dockyard. He travelled toNew ZealandandMexicoaround that time to "take some time out".
Being on his own, he read widely, reflected on his attitude to education, and applied successfully toNew College, Oxford, where he earned an English degree in 1971. Shortly after that, he moved toPadstow.
After graduating, Stein converted amobile discoin Padstow, which he had run as a student, into a quayside nightclub with his friend, Johnny. It became known for its freeze-dried curries. However, the nightclub lost its licence and was closed down by the police, mainly due to frequent brawls with local fishermen. The pair still had a licence for a restaurant in another part of the building, so they continued with that to avoid bankruptcy.Stein ran the kitchen using the experience he had gained as acommis chef. Eventually he converted it into a small harbour-side bistro, The Seafood Restaurant, with his first wife Jill in 1975.As of 2015,his business operates four restaurants, a bistro, a café, a seafooddelicatessen, apâtisserieshop, a gift shop and a cookery school.
In 2007, threats against Stein's businesses were made byCornish nationalists.His impact on the economy of Padstow is such that it has been nicknamed "Padstein".In 2009, Stein made his first acquisition in the nearby village ofSt Merryn,3+1⁄2miles (6 km) from Padstow, taking over the Cornish Arms public house on the village's outskirts, intending to keep it as a traditional Cornish pub.
In October 2009, Stein and his future second wife (fiancée at the time), the publicist Sarah Burns, opened Rick Stein at Bannisters inMollymook, Australia. Stein said at the time of opening, "Ever since a memorable weekend eatingPambulaoysters and flathead inMerimbulain the sixties, I've had the image of the clean blue sea and sweet seafood of the South Coast fixed in my head so when I was introduced to Mollymook about six years ago I knew that one day I would open up a restaurant celebrating local fish and shellfish but keeping it really simple."
In 2018, Stein opened a second Rick Stein at Bannisters inSalamander BayinPort Stephens, with his second wife, Sarah. Stein has become a popular television presenter on food programmes. After appearing once as a guest chef inKeith Floyd's 1985 seriesFloyd on Fishand in his 1986 seriesFloyd on Food, he was offered the chance to present his own series – like the "travelogue" style of cookery show pioneered by Floyd – onBBCtelevision, using Floyd's producer and director David Pritchard.
His shows have includedRick Stein's Taste of the Sea,Fruits of the Sea,Seafood Odyssey,Fresh Food,Seafood Lovers' Guide,Food Heroes,French Odyssey,Mediterranean Escapes,Far Eastern Odyssey,Rick Stein's SpainandRick Stein's India. In the last five series,he set out in search of the best in the region's foods.
Stein was often accompanied by hisJack Russell Terrier, Chalky, until his death in 2007.So popular was Chalky thatSharp's Brewerynamed twospeciality beersafter him.
A book has accompanied each series, and Stein's bookEnglish Seafood Cookerywon theGlenfiddich Awardfor Food Book of the Year in 1989. Stein was awarded theOBEin the2003 New Year Honoursfor services to tourism in Cornwalland theCBEin the2018 New Year Honoursfor services to the economy.
On 22 June 2020, it was confirmed that Stein's restaurant inPorthleven,Cornwallwould close permanently due to theCOVID-19 pandemic. The restaurant had been closed since March 2020.In July 2020, it was announced that chefMichael Caineswould take over the restaurant.
In 1965, when Stein was 18, his father, a retired managing director ofThe Distillers Company, who suffered frombipolar disorder, killed himself by jumping from a cliff near the family's holiday home atTrevose Head.
Stein met his first wife Jill NewsteadinPadstow. They married in 1975, both aged 28,  and set up their restaurant and hotel business. Stein has three sons with Jill: Edward, Jack, and Charles who are involved in the family business.
Stein met Sarah Burns, 20 years his junior, in Australia in 1997, when he was 50. She was also married, and working as a publicity manager forAustralia Gourmet Travellermagazine.Stein and Burns had a secret five-year affair before Jill found out in 2002.She and Stein separated in 2002 and divorced in 2007,but agreed to continue to run the business together.Burns divorced in 2003, and she and Stein married on 7 October 2011.
Stein has a brother,John, and a sister, Henrietta.He also has a half-brother, Jeremy, his mother's son from her first marriage.He is the uncle of DJ and music producerJudge Jules,and the artist Lucy Stein.
In 2022, Stein underwentopen heart surgeryat theRoyal Brompton Hospitalto repair a defective heart valve.Appearing live onBBC'sThe One Showin October 2023, promoting his book, "Simple Suppers", he shared that his heart surgery experience had inspired his back to basics recipes but he inadvertently used a swear word and the show's host and Stein had to apologise for the error.
For the restaurant:
For the man: