Rick Stein to open third restaurant outside Cornwall
A planning application has been submitted on behalf of Stein’s company to transform a former clothing shop in Marlborough High Street in to a 102-cover restaurant.
The four-storey site will feature a restaurant spread across the ground and first floor, complete with bar, booth seating and a 12-cover private dining room.
The restaurant is aiming to employ 40 people and boost tourism in the area.
According to The Wilshire Gazette and Herald, the planning application reads: “Having successfully developed several other restaurants and related operations in the South West, originating from Padstow, this family run business is keen to bring their unique brand of food into Marlborough.
"Whilst Marlborough has a thriving retail centre, its considerable tourist potential has arguably yet to be realised.
“As an internationally recognised brand, without any other local restaurants, the proposed occupier will be a new tourist feature within its own right."
The plans follow comments from the Rick Stein Group operations director Ian Fitzgerald, who told BigHospitality’s sister publication M&C Allegra Foodservice in April that the company was looking to expand nationwide with possible sites in the south east and north of England.
Stein first opened The Seafood Restaurant in Padstow in 1974, and now owns 10 restaurants and 40 guest rooms across Cornwall, Dorset and Winchester.
The chef recently opened his largest restaurant to date, a 200-cover site, in Sandbanks in Poole Harbour on 28 November.
However, speaking at the Independent Hotel Show in October, the chef denied that the area would become known as ‘Poole-stein’.
A consultation on the plans for Stein’s Marlborough restaurant is running until 28 December, with a final decision set for 22 January.
For all the latest vacancies with Rick Stein on BigH Jobs see here.