MY FAVOURITE VIEW
Jill Stein, interior designer and co-owner, Rick Stein restaurants
Why Padstow makes designer and restaurant co-owner
Jill Stein’s heart soar
Sitting on the terrace above The Seafood Restaurant in Padstow offers an unparalleled view looking across the estuary to Rock.
It’s the most wonderful place to take your book and a drink and just soak in the salt-laden air as you listen to the gulls flying above.
Below us is the River Camel, which runs right up to Wadebridge,
but between us and the river is what I call the ‘Knightsbridge-on-sea’ of the locality – Rock, Trebetherick, Polzeath… They’re full of holiday homes and so lovely, but completely different to Padstow, which is an old fishing port. The area has a very good name now, but back in the olden days it was slightly looked down upon, I think! From our restaurant we can see the areas on that side of the estuary and all the way down to the mouth of the Camel. When we first started, all our customers used to pootle over on water taxis from the other side for their dinner, which was great!
The Seafood Restaurant, which my business partner, Rick, and I own, has rooms above it, including Porthilly (above), which is one of two with estuary views.
About 10 years after we set up the business, we converted the flats upstairs into rooms so our guests would be able to stay after coming to eat with us. I did the interiors at the time, and
have upgraded them over the years, but Porthilly and its neighbour, Daymer, have just had makeovers. I kept the terrace very simple, decked with seats and pot plants that can cope with the salty winds coming over the water. Indoors, my interiors have a definite ‘less is more’ feel. There’s a different atmosphere and a different light when you’re coastal, and interiors should reflect that, which means light colours and simplicity. Our daughter-in-law works for us now and she created the most beautiful coastal designs for Porthdune, our in-house range of candles and toiletries. I love how they reflect my interiors and the estuary outside – she’s a very talented girl.
I live outside of Padstow, on the next bay along, and the whole area inspires me and lifts my soul.
Those same cliffs you can see from the Porthilly room are wonderfully rugged and re-energising up close. It’s the Atlantic coast, so while the weather can be changeable, when you have a summer’s day and it’s lovely and hot, there’s nowhere else you’d want to be. Cornwall has a very wild and dramatic coastline, and that’s part of why I love it so much. It has its own identity – it really doesn’t feel like part of England at all and that’s why, to me, it’s so special and different from the rest of the UK.