Richard Knighting and Marty Grant’s route into restaurants has been far from traditional, which makes their food and wine experience at Corkage all the more exciting for the journey. Words by Kate Hearst.
Step inside Corkage on Chapel Row and you feel like you’ve arrived in the cosy surrounds of a friend’s house. Rich velvet curtains, acres of warm wood, artfully peeling paint and an instant sense of fun from affable owners Marty Grant and Richard Knighting provide the perfect welcome. Light floods in through skylights in the restaurant space and at this time of year you’ll want to make a beeline for the twinkly terrace and secret suntrap garden.
The weather plays a key role in what’s cooking. “There’s a lot to be said for eating the seasons,” says Richard, who leans towards the restaurant side of the business. “I’ve always liked the idea of cooking what’s around, as it’s the way I grew up. It’s lovely to have the world as a market to choose from, but it’s important not to lose sight of what we produce ourselves and what’s coming fresh out of the water or the land.”
The ever-evolving menu focuses on a key seasonal ingredient – maybe crab, cauliflower or pigeon – cooked simply but always packed with flavour. You’re advised to order a bit of everything to share so as not to get food envy as mismatched yet beautiful plates waft past your table. “The foundation is simple, classical cooking with influences from all over, using the best ingredients we can get with our own innovative twist,” says Richard.
With a name like Corkage, the wine list is no afterthought – it is one of the biggest in Bath, with around 200 bottles, more than 60 available by the glass. The team are walking wine lists, handy if you don’t know your Burgundy from your Bacchus, or fancy a steer towards something new.
As the self-proclaimed ‘original winehead’, Marty handles much of the vinous side of the business. “One of the most interesting things are the people who make the wine,” says Marty, who loves a good backstory. “You have to be a very special breed to care enough to make a really good wine that’s artisan, made with love and is a genuine expression of the terroir and where it comes from. The best compliment you can pay a winemaker is that when you drink their wine, you close your eyes, and it transports you to that place. The recognition of signature is the success of the wine. It’s quite visceral, almost emotional when that happens.”
Marty and Richard’s own route to hospitality stalwarts was far from easy. A born performer, Marty grew up in rural Ireland and was on the stage from age four. He went on to gain a degree in environmental science and was on his way to start a research doctorate in Africa when he thought better of it. “I decided to bail and run away and join the circus!” laughs Marty. A self-taught acrobat and part of a physical comedy trio playing all over the world, it was a back injury which put paid to his stage career. “It was like starting all over again,” he says. “I always enjoyed wine and when I was convalescing, I would often go to chateaus and vineyards and hang out with winemakers. It reignited my passion for the grape.”
Richard grew up in the north-east and has fond memories of picking mussels and eating crab at the beach. “If you’re eating mussels at that age, you’re fairly fearless,” he says. Cooking runs in his family, so he went against the grain with a degree in languages before taking various roles in heavy industry to allow travel to far-flung places to experience the local cuisine. A career break saw a stint as a divemaster and chef in central America before he finally came back to London to take the plunge into professional kitchens. It was a chance encounter on a job that led him to Marco Pierre White’s Michelin-starred Mayfair kitchen at Mirabelle to meet its executive chef, aged 28. “Phil offered me a job starting the next week and that was that; the oldest commis chef in town,” says Richard. From there, he went on to open the Soho Hotel and worked in private members’ club 50 St James running a three-star menu for high-end guests before his wife Emma brought him to the West Country.
The Bath end of things started at The Marlborough Tavern, when then owners Joe and Justin were on the lookout for a head chef. “We had a good time,” says Richard, “we went to London and won national competitions, got the rosettes and made the Michelin Guide.” He stayed for six years. Marty was running Gascoyne Place on Saw Close before the two joined forces.
Corkage’s original pop-up space on Walcot Street opened its doors in 2015 and sadly closed for good with the advent of the pandemic. The duo is rightly proud of the impact it had on the Bath dining scene. “No-one was doing small plates then, certainly not in the way we were doing,” says Marty. “This is a restaurant,” says Richard, indicating the surroundings of Chapel Row, “whereas Walcot Street was more of a bodega, with an open, experimental kitchen. “The wine offering was shooting from the hip in a dynamic way,” adds Marty. “It was like a sweet shop of wine and the cooking happened in the room, so you got all the bustle and smells. It was a very active and intimate set-up.”
These days, while Corkage 2 is a little more polished, it’s no less forward-thinking. There’s a new head chef, Rob Thomson, conjuring the likes of tandoori poussin with coriander and coconut sauce; silky homemade venison ravioli; and old school comforting classics such as chicken livers en croute with smoked lardons and velvety Riesling cream sauce. The team are young, hip and truly passionate about food and wine. “We couldn’t do it without a great team behind us,” says Richard. “Our work family is extremely important and the dynamic behind our success.”
With a busy programme of tastings, a new Wednesday wine club, a steal of Friday set lunch to serve hungry punters and a newly revamped outside space to complete, Richard and Marty aren’t planning on standing still anytime soon. “We’re keen to do a new project, in addition to Corkage, and we’re actively looking,” says Marty. If it’s anything like as good as its central Bath counterpart they’ll be on to a winner. Watch this space.
Corkage, 5 Chapel Row, Bath BA1 1HN
Tel: 01225 724386; corkagebath.com