Rick Stein with Sally Goodenough, events and legacy fundraiser at Lewis-Manning
Following its recent opening, the new Rick Stein restaurant in Sandbanks has donated nearly £2,000 to nearby charity Lewis-Manning Hospice.
The restaurant, which took over the former Café Shore premises on Banks Road, took donations from customers for the hospice during its ‘trial openings’ week in the lead up to its official opening on 28 November. Rather than paying for their meal, diners donated to the charity and the staff also donated their tips from the trial openings, raising a combined total of £1,934.85 for the charity, which is based just up the road from the restaurant at the top of Evening Hill and provides free care and support to local people with cancer and other life-limiting illnesses.
Maria Tidy, Fundraising Manager at Lewis-Manning Hospice, said, “We were absolutely delighted when a representative from Rick Stein’s got in touch to say they would like to make a donation. They said they choose us, not just because of the close proximity, but also because they had heard wonderful things about Lewis-Manning from various members of the community.
“We invited them in to see the hospice and they kindly invited us along to see the beautiful new restaurant, sample some food and we even got to meet the man himself. To receive donations from customers was lovely but for the staff to then generously give us their tips, we are really very grateful.”
Neil Lewis, the restaurant’s general manager, added, “It was a privilege to help raise money for such a fantastic cause and I’m really proud of our team for donating their tips.”
The 200-seater restaurant, which has extensive views overlooking Poole Harbour, is only Rick’s second restaurant outside Cornwall and the internationally renowned chef has pulled the project together with the help of his family. His son Jack runs all the kitchens, while his ex-wife and business partner Jill, along with their son Ed, and daughter-in-law, Kate, have done the interior design. Meanwhile, the youngest son, Charlie has created all the wine lists.
