Rick Stein toasts Sam's Brasserie

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Celebrity chef visits site of soon-to-open Chiswick restaurant

Rick Stein made the trip up from Cornwall to Chiswick this week to visit his protege's planned new restaurant.

The celebrity chef was attending a reception to introduce the new venture to guests from the Chiswick area.

An all-day every day, informal neighbourhood 100-seat brasserie with an adjacent 80-seat bar, Sam’s will be spearheaded by front-of-house co-owner Sam Harrison, who previously worked with Rick in Padstow and in Sydney for two years.

Harrison cites his experience with Stein as seminal to his new independent venture, and, indeed, the feeling is mutual since Stein is an investor in the Chiswick project and is acting in a ‘godfatherly’ way to help Harrison through the complicated process of opening a restaurant in London.

The Head Chef will be Rufus Wickham, who has worked at Kensington Place and the Crown Hotel in Suffolk.

“I’m so pleased that he’s decided to call it Sam’s as I know that he’ll run the place in his own individual style, and I also think that Rufus is a rising star. Lucky Chiswick,” commented Rick Stein.

The menus will feature everything from light salads to serious roasts, and therefore appeal to everyone from local office workers to parents with children. The emphasis will be on affordability and flexibility – there will be no minimum spend, and people will be encouraged to visit Sam’s Brasserie for everything from breakfast or a light snack and coffee, to drinks with friends or a full three course meal with wines. Breakfast, weekend brunch, lunch, bar and children’s menus will also be available.

Sam’s Brasserie & Bar will launch in early July 2005 in the Barley Mow Centre, just off Chiswick High Road.    The restaurant will be on the ground floor premises behind the Barley Mow Pub.

May 15, 2005