Visiting the celebrity chefs

Well, we didn't actually see any of them, but when we recently spent a week down in Cornwall I made it my mission to go Rick Stein's Seafood Restaurant in Padstow and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's River Cottage Store and Canteen in Axminster.



We were staying near Padstow so it was pretty easy to go to the seafood restaurant though I guess you might need to book fairly far ahead. We chose the tasting menu which consisted of five courses of seafood, from lobster salad to escalopes of halibut. It was good but I could have done with a bit more variation and excitement. However I did like the smart and relaxed atmosphere at the restaurant. Rick Stein also owns four or five other cafes and restaurants in Padstow, which is only a small fishing town. But having walked five miles to get to his fish and chip shop for lunch one day we weren't best pleased to arrive at 2:31 and discover it closed at 2:30.



The River Cottage Canteen isn't on the farm you see on the TV shows, it's in the centre of Axminster, but that makes it a good stopping off place for lunch on the way down to Cornwall. There's a shop with local food for sale and a cafe/canteen at the back with a small-ish menu - it was pretty good food though a bit pricey for lunch. We liked it so much that we stopped there on the way down and the way back.