Rick Stein’s Sydney debut: Coogee restaurant, local focus and the truth about his ‘dusty’ hangovers
Dusty.
It’s a word that neatly outlines British chef Rick Stein’s hangover on a recent Thursday morning — the low, insistent kind that taps the skull like a seagull on a bag of chips.
Stein’s friends were in town. And when you own a pub — The Cornish Arms near Padstow, Cornwall — well, rude not to head out and find some fun.
“I love that expression — dusty. Yes, I’m a little dusty … Sorry. It wasn’t a session, but we went out for a lovely dinner … and, well …”
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.You’d arguably be disappointed if Stein wasn’t wearing an air of alcohol. It’s long informed an aspect of his appeal — the inquisitive everyman; a passionate and standout chef with a penchant for pastel linens who found global fame through the small screen; a man of simple recipes that allow ingredients to sing; menus driven by seafood and his firm affinity for the ocean.
It’s the sea that has us talking today — the 78-year-old to next month open a debut Sydney restaurant overlooking the sands of Coogee Beach.
The ingeniously titled Rick Stein At Coogee Beach will inform the multimillion-dollar renovation and rebranding of what is now the InterContinental Sydney Coogee Beach. The new restaurant proves Stein’s third Australian venture after Bannisters Port Stephens and Bannisters by the Sea — though it’s a debut push into an Australian city.
His acute affinity for this country is well known and he’s married to an Aussie, Sarah (best known as Sas) who is also his business partner. The question, though, remains — why? Rick Stein has nothing left to prove. Rick Stein is arguably grazing in a good paddock and surely doesn’t need the stress that frames the opening of a new hospitality effort in a tricky environment?
“You’re right – it’s not like I don’t have enough to do as it is. But it’s the opportunity — (owners) Salter Brothers are very good operators and I like working with people who are good at hospitality. And then it’s the chance to open on the beach — that’s the main thing because restaurants on a beach are rare and very special. It’s why I believe both Bannisters at Mollymook and Port Stephens work. At the end of the day, it’s very exciting.”
It is. And it’s another point of positivity for Coogee — an eastern beaches’ enclave arguably overrun by the Irish but which also holds a very strong and robust sense of local community.
It’s something Stein is cognisant of — a pre-launch social media campaign tapping into the local nature of the beachside suburb: Rick with Coogee lifeguards; Rick cooking on the free beach BBQs (which were incredibly clean); Rick dining with other Coogee restaurateurs.
As much as this new venture will work as a destination diner for the wider city and incoming tourists, Stein says it’s imperative that what he delivers is accessible and speaks to the locals.
“Yes, we spent quite a lot of time wandering around Coogee — and I can see there’s a passion within the community. And it’s a real community. I’m not here to knock Bondi, but I think Bondi is just a bit too big and transient.
“Coogee has this wonderful local beach atmosphere about it. And if you think about enormous cities like Sydney, it’s very rare that somewhere so close to the centre and which is on the beach is so local.”
The accessibility and ease works across tight menus — expected notable Stein “hits” including pies — and the dining room set-up. Unlike much of what Justin Hemmes has done with the nearby Coogee Pavilion, Stein’s restaurant aligns both relaxed and sophisticated areas with an ability to accept people direct from the beach — travelling sand no issue.
“It’s an approach that really worked for us at Sandbanks near Bournemouth — we’ve got an easy bar menu where you can just come off the beach and have light starters, but then we’ve got a more substantial restaurant on the other side too. So it works, and I think we’re very lucky to have a large restaurant like we do at Coogee where you can also do both.”
On the hotel side, the newly badged InterContinental Coogee boasts 198 rooms, including 22 ocean-facing suites replete with floor-to-ceiling windows, outdoor baths and spacious designer lounges.
As it is for Stein, the ocean proves influential with a coastal aesthetic of curves and neutral palettes across the property, with a strong focus on wellness via on-site spa and offers such as sunrise yoga on the sand and (such is the current buzz) pickleball courts.
The hotel’s second phase opening next March — and which arguably owns as much as anticipation as Stein’s landing — will see the unveiling of the hotel’s “leisure deck”.
Cue ocean-facing infinity pool, poolside bar and outdoor event terrace.
The new Sydney restaurant means Stein and Sas will spend more time in Australia — a regular annual excursion of a few months built around a harbourside Sydney address.
“We come out three of four times (a year) and that will be a bit more now. We’ll see. And I also just filmed a new series in Australia which will air in January or February.”
The series saw Stein head across NSW, 8000km in a short amount of time, taking in the likes of Gundagai, the coast and across to Bourke to the State’s far west.
“It was really interesting. And to me, in ways it was overwhelming — to see the vast difference between the coast of New South Wales and inland.
Both are very, very special. And I really wanted to get out to Bourke, to get to a sheep station at the ‘back of Bourke’. This is what people in Britain think about Australia — the outback — because it’s so different and so unlike anything we have in Britain.”
Even in Bourke and beyond Stein couldn’t avoid the spotlight — something he’s learnt to live with (such is the maintained success of his televised cooking and galivanting) but which still holds certain surprise.
“It was just funny — all the way out there, I’ve no idea really where we are, and all these people coming up and saying, ‘Hi Rick, I really like your programs’. It’s nice. But I just thought — we’re out in this dusty little place, out past Bourke, in the middle of nowhere …”
Despite the dusty allure of the remote — and beyond Australia Stein’s keen to explore South America and China — it remains the untamed ways of the ocean that will always cradle the chef and offer a sense of necessary calm.
“It’s heavenly … And it’s given me so much.”
Rick Stein At Coogee opens December 1; ricksteinatcoogeebeach.com.au; coogeebeach.intercontinental.com
