PENZANCE has been consistently punching above its weight in the restaurant business for several years.
In the AA Good Restaurant Guide, it is one of the top places for rosetted restaurants in Cornwall.
But could the town really be the new Padstow as a travel article this weekend suggested?
Mary Prowse, manager of Penzance tourist office, thinks the comparison is justified and could do wonders for the town.
Excellent
She said: "There are some excellent restaurants in the town - from the little bistros right up to the hotel restaurants.
"This sort of coverage can only be positive. There is always really good fish in this area because of Newlyn.
"But I think you could eat out every night for two weeks and have excellent food in this area. Even the pubs have got great food at the moment.
"It is not just Penzance - it is Newlyn and Mousehole as well." Mary feels that diversity is the key to Penzance's success and restaurant owners in Penzance and the surrounding area agree.
But many say the town has had a thriving food industry for years and it is only just starting to get the recognition it deserves.
Yvonne Hill, proprietor of Hotel Penzance and the Bay Restaurant, said: "We have had some fantastic food places in Penwith for quite some time and I think we punch above our weight.
"The difference between here and Padstow is that Rick Stein must have around five places in Padstow and they are all under an umbrella, whereas here they are all completely independent of each other.
"I think the real beauty of it is they are all so different."
Rachel Carr and her husband, Andy, helped set up Penzance's first cafe bar - Cocos - nearly 10 years ago. They now own The Bakehouse on Chapel Street.
She said: "I think Penzance is a wonderful place. The dining scene is excellent and the more places there are, the better it is for us. It is a great place to base yourself for a holiday because there are so many fantastic places to go to if you have Penzance as a base.
"Everyone in the restaurant trade is very passionate about it. Using local produce and realising what we have on our doorstep is the best around is so important."
In Newlyn, places like the Smugglers restaurant and, more recently, Newlyn Seafood Cafe have cornered the fish market.
Barbara Turner has run the Smugglers restaurant in Newlyn with her husband, Stephen, for the past six years. She said: "If people come down here and they are getting good food and good service in the restaurants down here then that is good news.
"In this area there are some really nice restaurants and a diverse range of restaurants for people to choose from. There is room for everybody.
"The restaurant trade has not been doing too badly considering there is this recession on."
Boutique shops and numerous galleries have also helped lift the image of Penzance for several years now, but it's the food that has sparked comparisons with Padstow.
In the Mail on Sunday this week, correspondent Wendy Holden wrote: "Ten years ago, when Cornwall was newly trendy..., the county's wilder West was largely neglected.
"Only the brave, or – as in our case – those who had relatives in the area, spent much time in Penzance, an intensely atmospheric town with a distinctive spike-topped church, dome-capped main street and multifarious secret alleyways with more of a whiff of piracy about them.
"In those days, the striking thing about Penzance was its cheapness – the shops were unexceptional and frequently of the pound persuasion, the pubs were loud and scary, the Chinese restaurant was frankly weird and one encountered a variety of rackety characters rolling up and down its steep granite streets.
Culture
"But in the past few years the place has ridden a wave of smartification, or perhaps artification.
"This explosion of culture is fuelled and framed by smart bistros and fashiony interiors shops now mushrooming all over the town. Frankly, I wonder what kept them. For they are not building on nothing, these new places."
So, has Penzance really got the food market licked now? Mary Prowse thinks so.
"I don't think people have looked for food so much in Penzance but more recently people have started to look for better restaurants when they are on holiday and I think we have clinched that little market."
● What do you think? Has Penzance got what it takes to become the new Padstow? Comment on this story at www.thisiscornwall.co.uk/penzance or write to letters@cornishman.co.uk
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link to article: Town's bid for food capital status