Pete Murt is Head Chef of Rick Stein’s flagship restaurant in Padstow, The Seafood Restaurant. Born and bred in the town, Pete joined Steins in 2000 at the age of 16 and began washing dishes as a kitchen porter at St Petroc’s Bistro. He worked in the kitchen for two years before a desire to explore beyond the River Tamar took him away to Thailand for six months.
It was on his return to St Petroc’s, as a commis chef, that he realised his passion for cooking and over the next four years he progressed up to chef de partie and completed the Rick Stein Chef Apprenticeship too. His constant desire to better himself and his fellow chefs saw Pete make the move to The Seafood Restaurant to learn more under long-standing Head Chef Stephane Delourme.
After nearly six years there, Pete made a big decision to move up to London to further his culinary skills working at Claude Bosi’s two Michelin stared Hibiscus as chef de partie for a couple of years. This honed his drive for precision and consistency in everything that he does, and so, when Pete once again returned to Padstow, we offered him the role as head chef at Rick Stein, Sandbanks – Stein’s largest restaurant. Four very successful years later, Pete was thrilled to be given the chance to become head chef at The Seafood Restaurant back home. Just the fourth ever head chef at The Seafood Restaurant in its over 50-year history.
His favourite dish at The Seafood Restaurant is braised brill with slivers of potato and truffle. It’s a recipe that he loves to cook for guests as well as eat himself – in his words “great fish, great dish”.
