The Ranch steak restaurant Falmouth, Cornwall open again

It was back on May 7, 2022 that a small fire started in the kitchen of The Ranch on Events Square while Falmouth Pride events were taking place outside on Events Square.

It was hoped that once the investigation was completed that the restaurant would reopen in a couple of weeks, but now, over a year later, the restaurant has finally reopened its doors.

“I don’t know why it took so long,” said Rory, who runs the restaurant along with his brother Toby. “I was away in Bournemouth so my brother took brunt of it.

“Seemingly the damage was fairly minor and was superficial but because the ducting system goes up into the building above there were complications there and that’s why it’s been closed for so long.”

The Ranch is ready to welcome back customers (Image: Supplied)

He said if it had been a stand-alone unit they would have opened the next month quite easily.

But now they are back open and Rory says the feeling is “absolutely incredible”.

“It’s kind of a weird feeling because we were closed for so long and it dragged on for so long,” Rory told the Packet. “We were wondering will it ever happen, so really, really positive feelings that right we’re back open and we’ve got peace of mind going forwards now.”

He said because the restaurant wasn’t actually damaged in the fire, the steakhouse remains pretty much how it was before the blaze.

“We were concerned that our customer base may have gone because it’s been so long but there’s a nice little buzz with customers really happy that we are back open,” he said.

“We wanted to definitely put it back the way it was. Pretty much exactly the same thing because we knew that it worked and that people love it and that we are the only dedicated steak house between here and Truro.

“We’re very happy with everything.”

He said in the current climate, it is very difficult to recruit staff particularly chefs so they had kept the head chef Nick Watson, sous chef Anna McDonald, who is now front of house manage,r and the manager on at their other eateries The Shed and The Shack next door.

“It obviously cost us quite a bit more money but there was no question that we had to do that,” he said. “We were extremely worried about having to re-employ.”

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Rory says people can expect a wonderfully warm welcoming atmosphere, a really memorable experience with regard to the ambience and quality of the steak they use.

“It does feel amazing,” said Rory. “First night we were all a bit emotional about it and an hour before we opened we got all the staff together that have stayed with us during this time because it’s not been easy for them but to get the calibre of staff particularly in the kitchen it’s just very, very difficult.”

The Shack was originally opened by Rory and Toby in 2013. They continue to run The Shed and The Shack restaurants next door with their business partner Chris Richards.