45 Queen Street has grown organically – and the journey to this point has been anything but linear or obvious!

We started, way back in 2017, with a really small drinks company – making ‘Tinkture’ Rose Gin. As Tinkture grew we wanted to find a new home – not just for the company but also for our family (Hannah, Sam and our children – Huxley and Raphael).

We fell in love with an abandoned, leaking and rather sad warehouse in Penzance – and got to work! In the beginning there was a makeshift bar in the corner, some gin, some bottles of tonic and whatever beer was on offer at the supermarket… two bare lightbulbs, no windows, a heavy sliding door, many leaks from the roof – some were so severe that on rainy days they were more like cascading indoor water features… no heating and plenty of candles.

And they came!

We opened after the passing of summer when most of the visitors had long departed, yet we were overwhelmed by the support and sheer vibrancy of the local community. We had found our people. It was time to roll up our sleeves again!

Then Covid hit… while the world stopped, we got our heads down and committed. Over the past 3 years this building has gently taken shape. Many people have contributed and guided us along the way – our family, our guests, visitors and friends, our team, skilled crafts people, our suppliers, our community. 45 Queen street feels like a living, breathing space, an organism of itself – adapting and ever-evolving.

Looking ahead we are excited to see where this adventure leads. We have dreams of sustainability, green rooftop spaces, circular local economies, working within our environment, so we can be sustainable and regenerative – balancing ecological principles with a thriving hospitality business while nurturing young talent to provide guidance, hope and opportunity.

We have come to the surprising (to us at least) and sobering realisation that modern hospitality is fundamentally not a road paved with gold  – in fact, it can be an unrelenting and a bruising battle at times! We have actually made peace with that. Great hospitality is about passion, heightened experiences, shared struggles and moments of transcendent harmony – when customers, chefs, waiters, bar staff, and the whole damn building all experience pleasure and joy at the same time – when everyone and everything falls beautifully into place – and there is balance.  

Be Kind. Do Good. Have Fun. Try Hard. Love Deeply. Don’t be a Dick.

That’s pretty much how we explain it to our kids (and our team)… and it seems they understand what we mean.

The same goes for 45 Queen Street. We wanted to create a place where we, as a family, could be surrounded by interesting, kind people. Where we could enjoy great food, a few delicious drinks and interesting conversations. A place where our children would feel safe and at home. A place where everyone – from the customers, to the staff, to the suppliers, to the local community felt valued, seen, heard and considered.

Nothing has changed. While it may look very different from the leaking, dark, freezing, candlelit warehouse without windows serving gin and tonics or (ironically) bottles of Corona from the makeshift bar in the corner, the ethos has remained steady.

We still just want everyone to have a good time and to feel held… to feel special, to feel valued - because you are, because we are – because we all deserve a place to call home and a community we choose to call family.

The tourist brochures will tell you about the interesting features of this ancient market town, the sweeping azure waters of Mounts Bay, the grandeur of St. Michaels Mount, the history of Chapel street, Royal charters, the Newlyn fishing fleet, the Brontë sisters, sub-tropical gardens, pirates and the death of Nelson.

We have fallen in love with this town because it feels like a miniature city perched on the shores of an ocean of potential. It has a community full of weird and wonderful characters – from all walks of life, that actually want everyone involved in this town to succeed. There is a humanity and humility here that courses through the veins of its residents. The town is a stubborn, crazy, gnarled limpet of stone and grit, embedded in the ball of Britain’s foot. Built to outlast any natural or societal erosion. Humble, self-effacing, marked by years of neglect with flashes of incandescent beauty. The town and its people have a rare heart, integrity and soul… and we feel incredibly privileged to play a small part in the story as it unfolds.