From Scrum to Stove

Words by Martyn Odell aka Lagom Chef

A former rugby pro has turned a clifftop café into one of Cornwall’s best-kept secrets.

With spectacular views and food that punches above its weight The Cove Café, Hayle is run by a man who used to get paid to run into people for a living. There are places in Cornwall that feel like they were put there just for the lucky ones who find them. Tucked into the cliffs above Riviere Towans Beach, overlooking the sweep of St Ives Bay, The Cove Café is very much one of those places. And if you haven’t been yet, frankly, what have you been doing?

Come summer, the secret is spectacularly out. The clifftop terrace hums with sunburned families, excited dogs and people staring out across one of the most jaw-dropping views in the county, wondering why they ever go abroad. The Cove does what a great Cornish café should: feeds people well, makes them feel at home and sends them off slightly reluctant to leave.

But here’s the thing the summer crowds don’t always know: the place is just as good, arguably better, when the season turns. When the Atlantic starts showing off and Hayle beach belongs to the dog walkers and the gloriously windswept souls who consider a wet winter beach walk a treat rather than a punishment, The Cove is still right there. Log burner going, legendary hot chocolates in hand this is a treat well-earned after bracing the November elements. It’s a café that rewards the brave, the local and anyone who knows that Cornwall in winter is a completely different kind of magnificent.

So, who’s the man behind the magic? Step forward Rupert Cooper: former professional rugby player, owner of the award-winning Philleigh Way Cookery School on the Roseland Peninsula and the force who took on The Cove in 2023. Rupert played at a serious level for years: Nottingham, Warwickshire, Worcester, and ultimately the Cornish Pirates, which is how Cornwall got lucky enough to keep him. “My passion for cooking comes a very close second to my passion for rugby,” he’s said, “and luckily for me they go hand in hand. You could say I taught myself to cook when I wasn’t at the bottom of a ruck.”

There’s something fitting about that. Rugby, like good cooking, is built on honest craft, no fuss and getting the fundamentals right. You don’t score tries by overcomplicating things, and you don’t produce great food by overthinking them either. There’s no theatre or pretension here, just quality ingredients, treated well.

That same ethos runs through Philleigh Way, where Rupert teaches everything from fire cooking and Middle Eastern flavours to classic farmhouse recipes and Japanese technique. If you’ve ever wanted to actually learn something rather than just watch someone else cook beautifully on a screen, a day on the Roseland with Rupert is the kind of thing you’ll still be talking about months later.

Meanwhile, back at The Cove the menu changes regularly, championing whatever Cornwall’s brilliant local producers are bringing in that week. You might find Cornish fish soup with aioli and crostini, duck buns with Asian slaw, shakshuka, or a smoked beef flatbread with garlic crème fraîche. Alongside the specials sit the staples nobody wants to see disappear: breakfast baps, fresh pasties, and (always) those hot chocolates. Trevaskis Farm, Primrose Herd, Dodo Bakery, Homage to Bovine: this is Cornwall on a plate. Which, when you think about it, is exactly what a great former rugby player would want.

The Cove is open seven days a week, 9:30am–4pm, no booking needed, although a quick email ahead of a special lunch trip is worth it. Whether you arrive sun-kissed from the beach in August or salt-blasted from a clifftop walk with a muddy Labrador at your heels in winter, The Cove delivers. Keep an eye on their socials for evening Feast Nights and outdoor events that have already built a devoted following and sell out fast.

LAGOM CHEF
LagomChef
www.lagomchef.com

The Cove Café
80 Riviere Towans, Phillack, Hayle, TR27 5AF.
Open seven days, 9:30am–4pm.
Find them on Facebook and Instagram
@covecafehaylebeach, or visit covecafehayle.com