Celebrity chef Rick Stein ’s beloved dog once almost savaged King Charles.
Jack Russell Chalky clearly wasn’t a fan of the future Monarch and let his feelings known when they met.
“He had a bit of a temper. You wouldn’t want to get too close to him,” said Rick’s son Charlie.
“He was a terrier so he was very nippy. He was a ratting dog and there was one time with Prince Charles where he growled at him and dad was quite worried he would bite him.
"He was quite close to biting him which would have been horrific.”
Luckily, disaster was averted and Chalky didn’t need a royal pardon.
Charlie was recalling the funny story about Chalky, who sadly died in 2007, at Padstow Christmas Festival.
Chalky, named after an imaginary dog Rick's lad Jack played with, had an army of fans after appearing on Mr Stein's TV series and was even more popular than his owner.
“When dad would go to town people would be shouting for Chalky,” says Charlie.
“Dad would get a bit crestfallen because they weren’t speaking to him!”
Today, Chalky’s memory lives on not just in the family home and business but in many restaurants and pubs thanks to a collaboration with Sharp’s Brewery over the water in Rock.
Chalky’s Bite is a multiple award-winning Belgian style ale which has been voted World’s Best Beer an incredible four times!
From an imaginary friend to a Mermaid’s curse and Doom Bar the stories behind some of Sharp’s beers are fascinating.
The brewery first opened in 1994 by Bill Sharp whose motto was ‘we're only as good as our last pint’.
That is something to this day that the brewery prides itself on with consistency being the key to the quality of all its beers.
And it’s that consistency that has led to Doom Bar becoming the best selling cask beer in the UK.
When Bill first opened, his two beers Sharp’s Original and Sharp’s Coaster flew out the shop and it wasn’t long before pubs were asking for a new beer.
Thinking on his feet he blended the two of them and Doom Bar was born. Named after the treacherous sandbank just outside Padstow it has accounted for more than 600 beachings, capsizes and wrecks.
According to folklore, the Mermaid of Padstow created the Doom Bar as a dying curse after being shot by a local after she rejected his advances.
That night an awful storm hit the area and the following morning locals awoke to find shipwrecks and bodies of drowned men.
These days the Doom Bar and Padstow Harbour is the backdrop for the Christmas festival which sees a Who’s Who of more than 60 chefs - including Rick Stein, Paul Ainsworth and Nathan Outlaw - hold cooking demonstrations.
Sharp's Brewery Beer Sommelier Ed Hughes is also on hand to educate and inspire people about the modern, mouth-watering fusion of beer and food.
Instead of pairing wine with your meal why not pair a beer?
Ed doesn’t want beer to be an afterthought. It should be at the heart of any dining experience and he and colleague Sam Lyne do a great job of convincing you to do just this with their Secret Bistro and Secret Bar experience.
Talking about the creation of Chalky’s Bite, Ed said: “This is hand on heart one of my favourite beers of all time. Rick [Stein] came to us and asked if we could brew a beer to go with seafood and it was a no-brainer.
“Our head brewer at the time created this in Belgium abbey style. It’s 6.8% so quite punchy.
“People always raise their eyebrows and say ‘6.8% is a bit much isn’t it?’ Well, we don’t bat an eyelid at a 14.5% Merlot!
“We’re conditioned that the arbitrary use for beer is pint. Put it in a wine glass and people treat the beer differently. It’s the best Jedi mind trick of all time!"
