Rick Stein to open Sandbanks restaurant
Rick Stein is to open a new restaurant in Sandbanks, Dorset.
The 200-seater venue is expected to launch in the autumn, and follows a period of rapid expansion for the Stein family's restaurant empire, with openings in Winchester and Porthleven and Fistral in Cornwall.
On signing the lease with business partner and ex-wife Jill, Rick said: "Sandbanks is the perfect place for a good fish restaurant. I've had my eye on it ever since I passed through about 15 years ago when I travelled the coast of Britain to make the Seafood Lovers' Guide… now my dream has come true.
"It'll be a place for some informal, inexpensive seafood maybe coming off Sandbanks beach or for spending some time on the Poole harbour side of the restaurant eating lobster or Dover sole, drinking lovely chilled white Burgundy and thinking how relaxing a view over the water can be. I'm very excited."
Jill will look after the interior design of the restaurant with the Steins' son Ed and daughter-in-law Kate.
Jill said: "I have fond memories of visiting Sandbanks with my aunt and uncle as a child and playing on the beach. It's a beautiful place to be so I'm thrilled we're opening a restaurant here. We're taking inspiration from the local surroundings and coast for the interiors. Ed is making a trip to Carrara to pick the marble for the bar, where you will be able to eat shellfish and drink cocktails."
2015 is the 40th anniversary of the opening of the Seafood restaurant in Padstow. The business now employs over 400 people and includes nine restaurants, hotel and self-catering accommodation, retail outlets and a cookery school.
Rick and Jill Stein are still at the helm of the business, along with their three sons.
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