Tributes to city wine expert and restaurateur

'I LEARNED A LOT ABOUT WINE FROM HIM' - EDMOND DAVARI

- WILLIAM TELFORD

TRIBUTES have poured in after reports of the death of hugely respected Plymouth restaurateur and wine expert Stephen Barrett at the age of 77. Mr Barrett is fondly remembered as a larger than life character who was one of the UK’s top wine writers and penned a popular column in The Herald for years.

Only active on social media just days ago, it is understood Mr Barrett died suddenly at his home in Plymouth on Sunday. Within hours there was a huge outpouring of tributes and memories to a man seen as one of the mainstays of Plymouth’s hospitality scene.

Edmond Davari, who now runs the Souk eatery in Plymouth Market, called Mr Barrett “an amazing restaurateur”. He said: “He was also one of the best wine critics in the country. I have known him for 40 years and have the greatest respect for him.”

Mr Barrett and Mr Davari started their careers in Plymouth in the 1980s. Mr Davari opened the Sardis restaurant at Derry’s Cross at the same time Mr Barrett launched Barrett’s in Princess Street.

“We were competitors,” said Mr Davari. “I bought his restaurant off him and called it Bougie, and later The Painter.”