Rick Stein Popular Books

Rick Stein Biography & Facts

Christopher Richard Stein, (born 4 January 1947) is an English celebrity chef, restaurateur, writer and television presenter. Along with business partner (and first wife) Jill Stein, he runs the Stein hotel and restaurant business in the UK. The business has a number of renowned restaurants, shops and hotels in Padstow along with other restaurants in Marlborough, Winchester and Barnes. He is also the head chef and a co-owner of the "Rick Stein at Bannisters" restaurants in Mollymook and Port Stephens in Australia, with his second wife, Sarah. He writes cookery books and has presented numerous cookery series for the BBC. Early years Of German descent, Christopher Richard Stein was born on 4 January 1947 in Churchill, Oxfordshire, to Eric Stein (1908-1965) and Dorothy Gertrude née Jackson (1909-1999). He was born and brought up on a farm.Stein was educated at Wells Court, a preparatory school just outside Tewkesbury, then Wells House, the Court's bigger sister-school at Malvern Wells, and then Uppingham School. He took A-levels in English, history and geography, but failed all of them. He moved to a cram school in Brighton, gaining E grades in English and history.Stein partially completed a hotel management traineeship with British Transport Hotels at its Great Western Royal Hotel in Paddington. He worked there as a chef for six months. Distraught by his father's suicide, at age 19 he went to Australia, where he worked as a labourer in an abattoir and as a clerk in a naval dockyard. He travelled to New Zealand and Mexico around that time to "take some time out".Being on his own, he read widely, reflected on his attitude to education, and applied successfully to New College, Oxford, where he earned an English degree in 1971. Shortly after that, he moved to Padstow. Career After graduating, Stein converted a mobile disco in Padstow, which he had run as a student, into a quayside nightclub with his friend, Johnny. It became known for its freeze-dried curries. However, the nightclub lost its licence and was closed down by the police, mainly due to frequent brawls with local fishermen. The pair still had a licence for a restaurant in another part of the building, so they continued with that to avoid bankruptcy. Stein ran the kitchen using the experience he had gained as a commis chef. Eventually he converted it into a small harbour-side bistro, The Seafood Restaurant, with his first wife Jill in 1975. As of 2015, his business operates four restaurants, a bistro, a café, a seafood delicatessen, a pâtisserie shop, a gift shop and a cookery school.In 2007, threats against Stein's businesses were made by Cornish nationalists. His impact on the economy of Padstow is such that it has been nicknamed "Padstein". In 2009, Stein made his first acquisition in the nearby village of St Merryn, 3½ miles from Padstow, taking over the Cornish Arms public house on the village's outskirts, intending to keep it as a traditional Cornish pub. In October 2009, Stein and his future second wife (fiancée at the time), the publicist Sarah Burns, opened Rick Stein at Bannisters in Mollymook, Australia. Stein said at the time of opening, "Ever since a memorable weekend eating Pambula oysters and flathead in Merimbula in the sixties, I've had the image of the clean blue sea and sweet seafood of the South Coast fixed in my head so when I was introduced to Mollymook about six years ago I knew that one day I would open up a restaurant celebrating local fish and shellfish but keeping it really simple." In 2018, Stein opened a second Rick Stein at Bannisters in Salamander Bay in Port Stephens, with his second wife, Sarah. Stein has become a popular television presenter on food programmes. After appearing once as a guest chef in Keith Floyd's 1985 series Floyd on Fish and in his 1986 series Floyd on Food, he was offered the chance to present his own series – like the "travelogue" style of cookery show pioneered by Floyd – on BBC television, using Floyd's producer and director David Pritchard. This caused a feud, only resolved shortly before Floyd's death.His shows have included Rick Stein's Taste of the Sea, Fruits of the Sea, Seafood Odyssey, Fresh Food, Seafood Lovers' Guide, Food Heroes, French Odyssey, Mediterranean Escapes, Far Eastern Odyssey, Rick Stein's Spain and Rick Stein's India. In the last five series, he set out in search of the best in the region's foods.Stein was often accompanied by his Jack Russell terrier, Chalky, until his death in 2007. So popular was Chalky that Sharp's Brewery named two speciality beers after him.A book has accompanied each series, and Stein's book English Seafood Cookery won the Glenfiddich Award for Food Book of the Year in 1989. Stein was awarded the OBE in the 2003 New Year Honours for services to tourism in Cornwall and the CBE in the 2018 New Year Honours for services to the economy.On 22 June 2020, it was confirmed that Stein's restaurant in Porthleven, Cornwall would close permanently due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The restaurant had been closed since March 2020. In July 2020, it was announced that chef Michael Caines would take over the restaurant. Personal life In 1965, when Stein was 18, his father, a retired managing director of The Distillers Company, who suffered from bipolar disorder, killed himself by jumping from a cliff near the family's holiday home at Trevose Head.Stein met his first wife Jill Newstead in Padstow. They married in 1975, both aged 28, and set up their restaurant and hotel business. Stein has three sons with Jill: Edward, Jack, and Charles who are involved in the family business.Stein met Sarah Burns, 20 years his junior, in Australia in 1997, when he was 50. She was also married, and working as a publicity manager for Australia Gourmet Traveller magazine. Stein and Burns had a secret five-year affair before Jill found out in 2002. She and Stein separated in 2002 and divorced in 2007, but agreed to continue to run the business together. Burns divorced in 2003, and she and Stein married on 7 October 2011.Stein has a brother, John, and a sister, Henrietta. He also has a half-brother, Jeremy, his mother's son from her first marriage. He is the uncle of DJ and music producer Judge Jules, and the artist Lucy Stein. In 2022, Stein underwent open heart surgery at the Royal Brompton Hospital to repair a defective heart valve. Appearing live on BBC's, The One Show in October 2023, promoting his book, "Simple Suppers", he shared that his heart surgery experience had inspired his back to basics recipes but he inadvertently used a swear word and the show's host and Stein had to apologise for the error. Restaurants owned or operated by Rick Stein England Australia Publications English Seafood Cookery, 1988 – Glenfiddich Cook Book of the Year 1989 A Beginner's Guide to Seafood, 1992 (Chapter 4 Marine Cuisine Guides) Beach to Belly, 1994 (foreword) Taste of the Sea, 1995 – André Simon Cook Book of the Year 1996 Good Food Award Best Cookery Boo.... Discover the Rick Stein popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Rick Stein books.

Best Seller Rick Stein Books of 2024

  • Week Light synopsis, comments

    Week Light

    Donna Hay

    Australia's bestselling cookbook author and most trusted home cook, Donna Hay, returns with a beautiful new cookbook that you'll want to use every night of the week. There are endl...

  • Tom Aikens Cooking synopsis, comments

    Tom Aikens Cooking

    Tom Aikens

    From the day Tom Aikens burst on to the restaurant scene he has barely been out of the limelight. Awarded two Michelin stars by the age of 26, he has consistently been tipped as on...

  • The Grilled Cheese Sandwich synopsis, comments

    The Grilled Cheese Sandwich

    Sian Henley

    Ready to eat in just minutes and devoured in seconds, the grilled cheese sandwich is the perfect quick and cheap meal. Combining quality breads and cheeses, create fun and quirky r...

  • Venice synopsis, comments

    Venice

    Russell Norman

    A beautifully designed cookbook with easy, seasonal Italian recipes perfect for any foodie!Russell Norman returns to Venice the city that inspired POLPO to immerse himself in th...

  • Summer Cooking synopsis, comments

    Summer Cooking

    Elizabeth David

    Summer Cooking first published in 1955 is Elizabeth David's wonderful selection of dishes, for table, buffet and picnic, that are light, easy to prepare and based on seasonal ing...

  • A Year of Good Eating synopsis, comments

    A Year of Good Eating

    Nigel Slater

    An immediate new classic from Nigel Slater. Over 250 recipes, moments and ideas for good eating, with extraspecial seasonal sections for quick, weeknight eats.The third instalment ...

  • Rick Stein at Home synopsis, comments

    Rick Stein at Home

    Rick Stein

    Home is more than a place. It's a feeling.Rick Stein has spent his life travelling the world in search of cooking perfection from France and Italy to Australia and the far east a...

  • The Fish Book synopsis, comments

    The Fish Book

    Paul Peacock

    This book will give you the knowledge and confidence to choose, prepare, cook and enjoy fresh food and seafood. It explains simply how to gut, clean and fillet fish and how to dea...

  • Home of the Gentry synopsis, comments

    Home of the Gentry

    Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev & Richard Freeborn

    On one level the novel is about the homecoming of Lavretsky, who, broken and disillusioned by a failed marriage, returns to his estate and finds love again only to lose it. The se...

  • Eugene Onegin synopsis, comments

    Eugene Onegin

    Alexander Pushkin

    This novel in verse, said to be the parent of all Russian novels, is a tragic story of innocence, love and friendship. Eugene Onegin, an aristocrat, much like Pushkin and his peers...

  • A Piano In The Pyrenees synopsis, comments

    A Piano In The Pyrenees

    Tony Hawks

    'If you had to pick two things you wanted if you had to what would you pick?'I hesitated. This was a bigger question than usually got asked at these postmatch debriefs. 'I suppos...

  • Marcus at Home synopsis, comments

    Marcus at Home

    Marcus Wareing

    Marcus Wareing is a brilliant chef. His restaurant group Marcus Wareing Restaurants includes three criticallyacclaimed restaurants – the two Michelinstarred Marcus at The Berkeley,...

  • The River Cafe Classic Italian Cookbook synopsis, comments

    The River Cafe Classic Italian Cookbook

    Rose Gray & Ruth Rogers

    Thirty years after its doors first opened, The River Café remains one of London's most iconic restaurants, loved for its innovative Italian food. Pioneering chefs Rose Gray and Rut...

  • The Chilango Burrito Bible synopsis, comments

    The Chilango Burrito Bible

    Eric Partaker

    VOTED BEST BURRITOS IN LONDON (TIME OUT)Just about anything you can dream up can become a burrito. There are no rules.THE OFFICIAL CHILANGO COOKBOOKChilango is continuously raising...

  • Marcus at Home synopsis, comments

    Marcus at Home

    Marcus Wareing

    Marcus Wareing is a brilliant chef. His restaurant group Marcus Wareing Restaurants includes three criticallyacclaimed restaurants – the two Michelinstarred Marcus at The Berkeley,...

  • The Borough Market Cookbook synopsis, comments

    The Borough Market Cookbook

    Ed Smith

    'Like the market, the book is exciting, instructive, seductive and inspirational.' Claudia RodenAn essential gift for the keen cook in your life. Borough Market is the beating hear...

  • The Decameron synopsis, comments

    The Decameron

    Giovanni Boccaccio & G. H. McWilliam

    In the summer of 1348, as the Black Death ravages their city, ten young Florentines take refuge in the countryside...Taken from the Greek, meaning 'tenday event', Boccaccio's Decam...

  • PizzaExpress From Italy With Love synopsis, comments

    PizzaExpress From Italy With Love

    PizzaExpress

    Over 100 delicious, Italian inspired PizzaExpress recipe favourites that bring the UK's most popular restaurant brand straight to your home.We all have special memories that took p...

  • Tapas Revolution synopsis, comments

    Tapas Revolution

    Omar Allibhoy

    Prepare to fall in love with Spanish food! With stunning photography, easytofollow, stepbystep recipes and a real sense of love for the cuisine, this is the perfect book for anyone...

  • Three Tales synopsis, comments

    Three Tales

    Gustave Flaubert & Roger Whitehouse

    First published in 1877, these three stories are dominated by questions of doubt, love, loneliness and religious experience, and together form a triumphant conclusion to Flaubert's...

  • Eivissa synopsis, comments

    Eivissa

    Anne Sijmonsbergen

    ‘This is my dream cookbook … A really evocative and delicious collection of recipes and a tantalising glimpse of a beautiful island’ – Russell Norman, author of PolpoShortlisted fo...

  • Cavalleria Rusticana and Other Stories synopsis, comments

    Cavalleria Rusticana and Other Stories

    Giovanni Verga

    The stories of Giovanni Verga (18401922) are wonderful evocations of ordinary Italian life, focusing in particular on his native Sicily. In an original and dynamic prose style, he ...

  • Romola synopsis, comments

    Romola

    George Eliot & Dorothea Barrett

    One of George Eliot's most ambitious and imaginative novels, Romola is set in Renaissance Florence during the turbulent years following the expulsion of the powerful Medici family ...

  • River Cafe Italian Kitchen synopsis, comments

    River Cafe Italian Kitchen

    Rose Gray & Ruth Rogers

    The RIVER CAFE COOKBOOKS are a publishing phenomenon, with over a quarter of a million sold. Following a successful pilot on BBC, Rose Gray and Ruth Rogers were asked by Channel 4 ...

  • Barrafina synopsis, comments

    Barrafina

    Eddie Hart, Nieves Barragan Mohacho & Sam Hart

    'Possibly the best Spanish cookbook ever' Rachel Cooke, Observer Food Monthly'Barrafina is a tapas bar and the best of its kind . . . the food is fantastic' Giles Coren, The TimesW...

  • French Country Cooking synopsis, comments

    French Country Cooking

    Elizabeth David

    French Country Cooking first published in 1951 is filled with Elizabeth David's authentic recipes drawn from across the regions of France.'Her books are stunningly well written ....

  • Sunshine on a Plate synopsis, comments

    Sunshine on a Plate

    Shelina Permalloo

    In 2012 over 6.5 million viewers watched Shelina triumph in the MasterChef final: with her instinctive spicing and intense flavours, she brought Mauritian food to TV for the first ...

  • One Pan Perfect synopsis, comments

    One Pan Perfect

    Donna Hay

    Donna Hay returns with her new, gorgeously luxe hardcover cookbook One Pan Perfect to make life simple, easy and delicious for her millions of fans.Donna loves to make it easy for ...

  • One More Croissant for the Road synopsis, comments

    One More Croissant for the Road

    Felicity Cloake

    ‘Joyful, lifeaffirming, greedy. I loved it’ – DIANA HENRY‘Whether you are an avid cyclist, a Francophile, a greedy gut, or simply an appreciator of impeccable writing – this book w...