When you consider the hardships we faced in the Seventies, it seems unlikely anyone would want to go back.
Well, Rick Stein does.
The TV chef is celebrating the half century since he opened his first restaurant in Padstow, Cornwall, by serving lobster at £2.80, seafood thermidor at £2.20, shellfish soup for 50p, and treacle tarts for 35p – the prices his first customers paid in 1975.
For context, nowadays he charges £85 for a fruits de mer main course.
The lucky few who secure tables at a whole series of Stein restaurants involved in the temporary deal really cannot go wrong.
And the only catch is that wine, cocktails and other drinks will be at 2025 prices – he’s not completely mad.
Rick, 78, launched his Seafood Restaurant in Padstow, the start of his astonishingly successful culinary career, with first wife Jill in a year when Harold Wilson was Prime Minister and Margaret Thatcher became the first female Tory leader.
Rick and Jill opened what was initially a small bistro by the harbour of Padstow in north Cornwall, after his previous venture, a nearby nightclub, was closed down by police over multiple brawls among fishermen.
Half a century on, the pioneering restaurateurs are no longer married – yet, remarkably, they do still run their restaurant empire together.
He and Jill split in 2002, five years after he began an affair with his publicity manager Sarah Burns, 20 years his junior. In 2006, in an infamous Padstow bust-up, Jill slapped both Rick and Sarah.
Yet while Rick and Sarah are now married, he and Jill have continued working together, along with their sons Edward, Jack and Charlie.
Rick told The Caterer: ‘Reflecting on the past 50 years, we’re so grateful to everyone who has been part of this incredible journey, from our loyal customers, talented team and wonderful suppliers.
‘We look forward to all the celebrations this year.’
Jill added: ‘Little did Rick and I imagine when we opened our doors in 1975 that we would still be here 50 years later, celebrating half a century of the iconic Seafood Restaurant.
‘We hope to welcome you to join us in celebrating our Golden Year.’
The astonishing deal will be offered at lunchtimes for four days from Thursday February 6.
Locations involved are at the Seafood Restaurant as well as the Stein eateries in Winchester in Hampshire, Marlborough in Wiltshire, Sandbanks in Poole, Dorset, and Barnes, south-west London.
He has since opened a cafe, a deli and a patisserie in Padstow – earning the town the nickname ‘Padstein’.