MOVE FOR TOP SEAFOOD CHEF

Move for top seafood chef. Jamie Porter, former senior sous chef at Rick Stein’s Seafood restaurant in Padstow, Cornwall, is to join the Old Coastguard hotel in Mousehole as head chef, reports The Caterer.

He will take over the food and beverage operation at the 15-bedroom hotel on Cornwall’s south coast next month, after spending four years as a freelance chef and food stylist. He previously spent three and a half years in Padstow at the Seafood restaurant.

After growing up in Padstow, Porter entered hospitality when he secured a chef apprenticeship at Cornwall College while working at the Seafood’s sister restaurant, St Petroc’s Bistro. He then went on to work at the three-Michelin-starred Waterside Inn in Bray, Berkshire, before returning to Cornwall in 2010.

Porter said he “couldn’t be happier” to be offered the position at the Old Coastguard, which is one of three hotels to make up the EatDrinkSleep group. “I was brought up handling the fish from my Dad’s boat and this brings me full circle. I’ve learned so much from my mentor at the Seafood restaurant, Stephane Délourme, particularly about how to cook simply with fish, and I’m absolutely confident this sets me up perfectly for working at the Old Coastguard.”

Charles Inkin, founder of Eat DrinkSleep with his brother Edmund, added: “It is such brilliant news to have Jamie joining us in Mousehole. His background at the Seafood restaurant sits so well with our desire to make the most of our proximity to Newlyn and the fish market.

“Our guests at the Old Coastguard should be enjoying the very best seafood and we’ve huge confidence that Jamie brings just the right skills to make that happen.”

Porter will replace Matt Smith.

EatDrinkSleep operates the Gurnard’s Head in St Ives, Cornwall, and the Felin Fach Griffin pub with room in the Brecon Beacons, alongside the Old Coastguard.

Photo courtesy Adam Gibbard, Visit Cornwall