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Restormel: FIFTEEN CORNWALL OPENS DOORS

The students are trained; the food is delivered; the decoration is complete and the scene is set as the eagerly-awaited Fifteen Cornwall restaurant opens its doors for the very first time.


The restaurant, in Watergate Bay, has stunning views over the two mile beach and offers an exciting menu of modern Mediterranean dishes using high-quality, locally-sourced seasonal ingredients from land and sea.

Jamie Oliver joined his team of recruits for the opening as they prepared a treat for 126 people at a special launch-day lunch today (May 18).

Speaking on launch day Jamie Oliver said: “This is all about working with local young people who have had some terrible times in their past by training them and developing their confidence to give them the skills to stand tall and be proud in what they are doing. It’s all about helping them realise they can be excellent at something. What’s at the heart of Fifteen is looking after local kids and believing in them. I have never seen a better seaside setting for a restaurant - I am well chuffed!”

The restaurant will be dedicated to the same inspirational social enterprise goals as set out by Jamie Oliver and his team at Fifteen in London. All profits will go to the Cornwall Foundation of Promise, whose purpose is to create fantastic career opportunities for disadvantaged local youngsters and help them to achieve their full potential. The restaurant will also provide a valuable boost to Cornwall’s tourism industry and make use of the abundance of high quality local food producers in the region.

Foundation Director Mark Scothern said: “Although our work has been going on for some months now, it is exciting to see all the training and preparation coming together. There are so many great aspects to this venture that will provide awesome opportunities for everyone involved, particularly young adults from communities in Cornwall that want chances to develop and improve their quality of life.

“The Fifteen partnership is built around a set of shared values which include ambition, energy, transformation, enterprise and compassion - a set of values which are very close to my heart. It has been great to see these fantastic young people develop; they have come so far already.”

Director of Fifteen Cornwall Will Ashworth said: “This restaurant promises to be a lasting legacy for Cornwall that will not only benefit the young people involved but will also boost the local economy and put Cornwall on an international stage as an exciting place where great things are happening. We are determined the restaurant will be a top quality eating establishment producing well-trained, Cornish-grown chefs.”

The 21 student chefs have undergone a 12-week intensive training course at Cornwall College to gain their initial catering qualifications followed by month-long placements at restaurants across the county. The trainees were picked from some 300 applicants at the end of last year. They will now all work at Fifteen Cornwall for 12 months.

Head chef Neil Haydock, said: “We’re all itching to crack on with the great young people and fantastic fresh local food to show everyone what we can do. We’ve got magnificent facilities and a top-quality kitchen which is all open plan so we really feel part of the restaurant and not hidden away in the back.”

The restaurant has been designed by Falmouth-based company Absolute Design and includes a reception desk carved from a 200 year –old beech trunk from the National Trust’s Lanhydrock House near Bodmin, pink exterior lighting, an edgy mix of fine art and graffiti, reclaimed walnut timber and liquid drop-shaped light installations.

The project has received more than £1 million in grants from Objective One and the South West of England Regional Development Agency (SWRDA), with additional support from Jobcentre Plus, the Learning and Skills Council (LSC), Cornwall College, Cornwall County Council, Restormel Borough Council, St Austell Brewery, HSBC Bank, Barclays Bank and The Hotel and Extreme Academy, Watergate Bay.

For Fifteen Cornwall restaurant reservations and menu information visit www.fifteencornwall.co.uk or call 01637 861000 (lines open between 9.30am and 8.30pm seven days a week).