Award: One Michelin star
Head Chef: John Walton grew up in Padstow and joined No 6 Restaurant in June 2008. He started his career working for Rick Stein at The Seafood Restaurant, before moving to London for three years where he worked at Pétrus. Paul Ainsworth met John Walton at Pétrus in 2003, when Paul worked as his Sous Chef.
Patron: Paul Ainsworth – in 1998, Paul worked for Gary Rhodes for two years at ‘Rhodes in the Square’. He then joined Gordon Ramsay at the 3 Michelin star restaurant on Royal Hospital Road for three years before moving to Ramsay’s Pétrus restaurant in 2003, working under Marcus Wareing. He continued to work for Wareing when he relocated to The Berkeley.
Then, in 2006, he opened his own restaurant in Padstow with some friends. In 2009, he bought out his friends and changed its name to Paul Ainsworth at No 6.
The restaurant was awarded a Michelin star in 2013 and its fourth AA Rosette in 2016. It is included in the Good Food Guide’s top 50 UK restaurants with a rating of 7 out of 10 and describes No 6 as “Padstow’s premier gastronomic address.
In 2011, Ainsworth competed in the BBC’s Great British Menu, winning the dessert course with a dish called ‘Trip to the Fairground’. This dish consisted of cinnamon sugar-dusted doughnuts with raspberry curd for dipping, honeycomb and popping candy lollipops, coconut custard with chocolate and peanut popcorn and toffee apples and marshmallow kebabs. This show-stopping dessert is now back on the menu at No 6 and should not be missed.
Ainsworth also owns Padstow Italian restaurant Rojano’s in the Square which is well worth a visit. The pizzas are excellent!
In February 2019, he and wife Emma acquired the lease of The Mariners pub at Rock, in partnership with Sharp’s Brewery, taking over from Nathan Outlaw.
Visit: 2 March 2019, lunch for two.
Price: **
Website: https://www.paul-ainsworth.co.uk/number6/
Review: The restaurant is in a beautiful Georgian townhouse in the heart of Padstow. It serves modern British food with a focus on Cornish sourced produce. It’s not a seafood restaurant!
The food is beautifully prepared and has lots of nice twists and new flavours. The menu is not extensive, and there isn’t a tasting menu.
The food was spectacular, the service friendly and the staff very knowledgeable. This was a superb restaurant experience. I was not convinced when I last visited, (see my previous review) but now I am a real No 6 fan.
The menu and food:
