Kent’s newest Michelin star restaurant has space for just ten diners at one time.
Once a closely guarded secret of Thanet residents, Stark is tucked away in an unremarkable Broadstairs side street.
It opened quietly in December 2016 – but almost three years on it’s less of a hidden gem and more of a tourist hotspot for foodies.
That’s because although the former sandwich shop has just four tables – it also has one very important thing, a Michelin star.
Speaking to KentLive chef and owner Ben Crittenden, 31, said he never believed his tiny neighbourhood restaurant could gain so much national attention.
He said: “I remember showing my parents here and them being quite sceptical about it.
“They said things like ‘oh, it’s not big enough, it’s on a side street etc.’
“So I took that on board and decided to basically work backwards, by looking at the space and then deciding what concept to do with it.
“It was originally going to be tapas, but you need footfall for that and there isn’t any.
“We decided the only way for it to work would be to do a set menu with a set price – that way you know exactly the minimum spend for everyone that comes through the door.”
The attention Stark was getting started to rocket later in 2017, when the Guardian wrote a glowing food review and Ben won the Good Food Guide Chef to Watch award.
It resulted in months of waiting lists and scores of people making pilgrimages to Thanet to sample his food.
That success has been replicated once again just last week, when he snatched a Michelin star for his diminutive restaurant.
Perhaps most impressive of all is that all of the buzz around Stark is created from a little galley kitchen tucked in the corner of the restaurant.
From here Ben serves a carefully prepared six-course tasting menu singlehandedly.
Described as ‘dazzling’ by the Good Food Guide’s Consultant Editor Elizabeth Carter, the six-course menu features simple dishes showcasing three main flavours.
Ben’s taste for simplicity has seen Stark attract glowing reviews from national food critics.
The restaurant’s slogan ‘good food, laid bare’ pretty much sums up this attitude, he explained.
