Rick Stein COMING TO AUSTRALIA SAVED MY LIFE
Despite some health issues, the celeb chef is happier than ever
Culinary genius, restaurateur, author and globally recognised small screen icon – Rick Stein wears many (chef’s) hats.
In a career spanning five decades, during which he’s published 20 bestselling cookery books and starred in more than 30 TV shows, the British chef’s affable personality, infectious enthusiasm for good food and no-nonsense cooking style has earned him a wide assortment of fans from around the world.
While he’s travelled the globe several times over, it was his first visit to Australia in 1967 that kickstarted a lifelong love affair with the country.
“The food wasn’t up to much!” the 75-year-old chef jokingly recalls. “A bit like British food, roasts, fish and chips, dodgy Chinese, or at least where I went, but great burgers with beetroot, bacon, cheese and even pineapple, if
you were so inclined.”
However, his first visit to our shores was prompted by a sudden tragedy. When Rick was 18, his father Eric took his own life following an ongoing battle with bipolar disorder.
“My immediate reaction to it was to come to Australia,” he says. “I just wanted to get away from it all. Travelling here taught me to fend for myself really. That’s why I took off on my own, to show that I could cope with my situation.
“I was on the run from the memory of my father,” he has said in the past.
While backpacking as a teen was his first experience of life Down Under, these days there’s a lot more tying him to our country – namely his Aussie wife Sarah, who he affectionately calls “Sas”.
The pair married in a Sydney registry office in 2011 after Rick separated from his first wife Jill, and since then he’s split his time between the UK and homes in both Sydney and the southern NSW coastal town of Mollymook.
It’s an area where Sas spent her holidays as a child, and an area that became the location for the chef’s Australian restaurant debut, Rick Stein’s At Bannisters. Indeed, his eatery is credited with helping to put the tiny beach town onto the tourism map. More recently, the famous foodie applied his Midas touch to a second restaurant at Port Stephens on the northern NSW coast.
“I didn’t know the area as much as Mollymook,” he says. “But it’s just beautiful. And as soon as I discovered just how rich the local seafood scene is I became even more enthusiastic about it.”
FAMILY AFFAIR
Reflecting on his full circle journey, Rick says that, despite having more success than most, he still doesn’t rest on his laurels.
“I may be lucky, or not, but I don’t have many ‘pinch me’ moments because I’m still too involved in the day-to-day running of the restaurants... in other words, I’m still hooked!”
Though still very much active in his empire, the Stein business is now a family affair. Rick’s son Jack manages his chain of restaurants, and his other children are involved in the operations in different capacities.
So how does he feel about his brood following in his foodie footsteps? “I love it!” he enthuses. “And I also love that my stepdaughter Olivia is so involved and, Zach, my stepson, is directing the cooking videos that I do on social media, too.
“I think my generation of parents have been very lucky in that we don’t see nearly as much difference between mums and dads and kids as my parents. Both Sas and I have always treated our children and stepchildren as the same, so we don’t feel the need to filter what we say to them.”
At 75, Rick is overflowing with the vitality of a man half his age, so clearly spending part of his year in the Lucky Country – where sunshine and positivity abounds – is paying off.
“There’s such a wonderful optimism in Australia, which is why I love it here,” he says. “Generally you find that most Australians look on the brighter side of life.”
Now that he’s in his seventies, the affable foodie has boiled down his approach to life so that it resembles his approach to cooking and eating – simple is better. “Just don’t expect too much and enjoy what you have,” he says matter-of-factly.
“As you get older you sort of feel that nothing really matters as much you think it did at the time. You’re like, ‘Why did I bother?’ You learn not to sweat the small stuff.”
This life philosophy was cemented recently when the chef faced a serious health issue.
“I had open-heart surgery eight weeks ago,” Rick reveals, “which slowed me down a bit. But with my heart newly plumbed, I feel pretty optimistic about the future.”
To find out more about Rick and his projects, including his restaurants in Mollymook and Port Stephens, visit rickstein. com and bannisters.com.au
‘There’s such a wonderful optimism in Australia’