Penzance: Cornwall's new gourmet capital.

Penzance with its Art Deco Jubille Pool looks towards St Michael's Mount.

Lifestyle writer Andy Lynes writes in the Independent:

For the past 20 years, I’ve been organising holidays in Cornwall based on where the best restaurants are located. Back in the Nineties, Rick Stein’s emerging dining empire took me to Padstow; I then migrated to Fowey and nearby Polruan on the south coast when chef Nathan Outlaw had his signature restaurant there (now relocated to Port Isaac), and headed for Watergate Bay when Jamie Oliver opened Fifteen, arguably his best venue. Now Penzance has been put firmly on my gastronomic holiday map by the recent opening of The Shore.

The Shore, in the heart of Penzance

Chef and owner Bruce Rennie used to work for Rick Stein at his restaurant in Porthleven, and he’s now serving some of the best seafood in the country at his elegant 28-seater town-centre restaurant. Dishes such as John Dory with Indian spiced chickpeas are cooked with to-the-second precision and have the instantly recognisably clean, bright flavour of fish fresh from the sea – not surprising, given that Newlyn Fish Market is one mile from the restaurant’s front door. Working single-handedly, Rennie produces everything from stunning desserts such as blackberry semifreddo with pistachio sponge to superb mini-sourdough loaves himself.

 The Shore's Bread daily baked uses a seven year old sourdough starter for extra flavour.

“There are a lot of eateries in Penzance but there was scope for a restaurant of this style, something a little bit finer but affordable and not too stuffy,” says Scottish-born Rennie, who has lived in Cornwall for seven years and moved to Penzance to open The Shore last summer.

Food for fans of finest fish from nearby Newlyn.

“We’ve got a few good places now, such as The Mexico Inn in Longrock, which has been taken over by Tom Symons, one of my old sous-chefs, and The Coldstreamer in Gulval that’s now run by a former Porthminster Beach Cafe chef. It could be the start of something really interesting.”

Ben Tunnicliffe at the Tolcarne.

Another chef with his eye on the town’s restaurant scene is Ben Tunnicliffe of the highly rated Tolcarne Inn in Newlyn, on the southern outskirts of Penzance. “I love Penzance, it’s a fabulous town with so much potential and at the moment it’s on an upward curve,” he says. “I’m considering opening something in the town centre.”

"The only menu in the 300-year-old, white-washed pub is the one chalked up on the board above the bar"

Until that happens, it’s worth taking the 20-minute stroll along Penzance’s promenade (the only one in Cornwall) to Newlyn Harbour to dine at the Tolcarne Inn. The only menu in the 300-year-old, white-washed pub is the one chalked up on the board above the bar, and it changes daily depending on what’s available from the market. My autumnal, rustic seafood feast included scallops with black pudding and an onion and orange marmalade followed by pan-fried fillets of “jumbo” plaice with mash, roasted parsnips and hazelnuts.

Read the full article in the Independent's lifestyle section here:

Where does our fish come from? Day and night!

Life aboard a French stern trawler working in the Western Approaches - a boat typical of the fleet that fishes all around the coast of Cornwall. Trawlers fish 24/7, many of the French boats only tow for 2.5 hours, hauling and shooting the trawl up to nine times a day.

New feature on Through the Gaps! - Fish Prices and total landings.

The Price of Fish

Starting this week, you can now see the average price of fish landed on Newlyn market on a daily basis...go to the page 'Today's Fish' on the nav bar at the top of this page...

in addition to the daily updates, every Friday will see the totals landed by weight for each fish from every boat.

#FishyFriday finds fish-a-plenty on the market in Newlyn this morning.

Stack 'em high, megrim soles make up the biggest part of the AAlgrie's  trip today...

while the Sapphire II had a good shot of monk tails...

to go with her megrim collection...

always a good dollop of red gurnard with the inshore trawler Imogen II...

while big turbot seem to love the Lisa...

the cod has a big mouth to match its appetite for shellfish...

although the correct name for these spotty little fish is mor ki or sea dog most fishermen pronounce them in this part of the world 'mergies'...

one big, dark conger...

some of the Harvest Reaper's fish from a day at sea...

cod don't get landed better than these...

those bright red gills are a sure sign of freshness...

buyers from all nations get to visit the market...

charismatic MSC Certified hake from the Charisma...

helped fill the netter end of the market...

name that nose...

fish on the move...

whiting are likely to prove one of the choke species for inshore boats...

pristine pollack from a netter...

waiting for the right moment to bid...

it's eyes down at the auction...

at another pair of pollack...

what's the connection between these fish and golf?...

top quality net fish from the KJaren of Ladram using the boxes from the previous boat...

favourite food of the Mousehole Cat...

that man Tom again...

heavy skies, not promising to be a day like yesterday for sure...

this morning's arrivals and landings...

fish fight...

fuel for the thirsty beam trawler, Sapphire II...

in the morning...

seems like the blue boats like to stick together...

like the red ones...

red sky in the morning, you have been warned...

as the dawn light hits the windows of those lucky houses that face out across the Bay...

the Trinity House flagship Galatea at anchor off Battery Rocks...

Penzance's newest Art Deco property nears completion.

First ever exercise with Penlee lifeboat and the new Bristow's Newquay based SAR team.

Yesterday saw the first exercise with the Penlee lifeboat and the new Bristows SAR crew - heading past the Mount...

just taking off the stretcher case...

final run and salute from the new Sikorsky-S92 helicopter before she headed back to her base at Newquay....

watch a short sequence of clips from the exercise off Penlee Point.

What to wear on the market?

With the advent of the new Newlyn Harbour fish market regulation, 'Through the Gaps' is now sporting...

beautifully embroidered personalised workwear for its early morning market forays - all courtesy of Exhibit1 clothing from Hayle - you too can look the business - call 01736 759995 and speak to Jackie so that you too can make your staff look the part!


Need your own graphic?

The highly detailed logo (it even shows the following gulls) features the Crystal Sea II entering Newlyn 'Through the Gaps' and was created as a digital graphic based on a photo.

Let me know if you would like a logo created for your own personalised workwear - email me here.