Lucy Culkin
Meet the wonderful mother-and-daughter duo, Jane and Lucy owners of the Winking Prawn restaurant. Here, Lucy share's her love of entertaining, personal style, and the joy of everyday life.
@thewinkingprawn
Lucy:
Where is home?
Home is my favourite place, a little village outside Salcombe, with my girls Bellatrix and Honor, and my partner Gerry! Perfect!
Tell us a little more about your passion for food and entertaining.
I just love it at the Winking Prawn, seeing all our wonderful visitors, the hustle and bustle of it all! Our amazing team of staff drives me with such passion, but my biggest mentors, who instilled that passion in me, are my parents.
Being able to give back and create magical memories for customers is what it’s all about. You can’t please everyone, but the ones who love us are true devotees. It’s magical! We’ve been here 29 years now and long may it continue!
My food passion is mostly to eat it scallop and bacon salads in the summer, summer evening BBQs with Mark’s famous chopped salad, steak (all the steak!), scallops Thermidor… or just a bowl of chips and soup. Yum! What a kitchen to have at hand!
How did you discover Salcombe and find the Winking Prawn?
As a family, we’ve been in hospitality for as long as I can remember. Mum and Mark curating and creating fabulous restaurants throughout my life. They’re incredible at what they do! It’s not always been the easiest path they work so hard, with all its trials and tribulations but I’m so proud.
I was 17 when they first got the Winking Prawn. I was at college in Poole and then went to study further in London. For one reason or another, life’s paths take different turns, and I ended up coming down here 20 years ago with my daughter Bellatrix she was only one. And what an incredible decision that was for both of us.
From then on, while raising a family in Salcombe and on my own journey, I’ve become more and more involved and hopefully more integral to the Winking Prawn and its fabulous journey. We’ve had lots of exciting things happen, and we continue to grow and grow!
What is your favourite way to spend the weekend?
I could give the cliché answer and say “with my family, walking the dogs, and having a nice dinner,” but it never really works out like that, does it?
Realistically, just drinking a hot cup of tea before 10 a.m, having a bit of a lie-in, finally getting round to running the hoover around, and probably tidying up the kids’ mess that you’ve been avoiding all week! Then maybe heading out for lunch or planning an early dinner just being with Gerry and the girls as much as I can.
Working full-time in a very busy restaurant often means balancing work and family, so at the weekends or any day off just getting stuff done is more rewarding than anything. Getting ready for the week ahead. So yeah, weekends are for getting shit done and being on the sofa by 8 pm, eating snacks, and zoning out. Ideal!
How would you describe your style?
I tend to go with my mood. I have quite a varied wardrobe and a somewhat relaxed style. Some would say scruffy… but I try to style it up in my own little quirky way!
Very, very fond of leopard print, a good knit jumper, a great shirt, and denim!
What are your favourite Cape Cove items?
Literally all of it. Cape Cove is a staple in dressing me!
I can throw on a fisherman’s knit with some casual joggers, a striped shirt, or my gorgeous new paper bag navy trousers which looked incredible this weekend with a chunky belt and my new collection Stella Embroidered Denim shirt too!
Pair it all with Converse or loafers. The Sail Away Stripe Set with a Sia vest? Winner. The Dresses. The Sia jumpsuit. All my incredible embroidered shirts make any outfit iconic.
Literally #1 fan!
If you could visit any place in the world, where would it be and why?
One of the biggest things I’ve yet to do is take a train through the landscapes to the Black Forest and buy a cuckoo clock. True story. I love cuckoo clocks! I have three!
When I’m a grown-up, I’d love to do the Silk Road too… but growing up is ages away!
Yellowstone National Park is also on the list.
Oh—and Beatrix Potter’s house in the Lake District. Big fan.
