​The restaurateur is best known for his TV cooking, food and travel series as well as his restaurants and businesses, most of which are in the Cornish town of Padstow. Mr Stein moved to the area in the early 1970s, after graduating from New College in Oxford and growing up in Churchill, near Chipping Norton. Since leaving Oxfordshire, his business empire has ballooned; four have opened in Cornwall, there’s a restaurant in ‘millionaire’s row’ at Sandbanks in Dorset, and there are other restaurants across the south. Rick Stein. (Image: Oxford Mail) Now, the 78-year-old has opened up about a terrifying incident which occurred to him whilst abroad. While speaking to The Times, Mr Stein revealed that following the death of his father by suicide, he chose to travel as far away as possible to distance himself. These places included both Australia and the United States, as well as Mexico, which he found “very special”. Yet whilst in the country, he ran into a dangerous situation which he claims almost claimed his life. Mr Stein told The Times: “The bars were not exactly glamorous, but there was something very special about drinking ice-cold beer and tequila in a room full of cowboys. “Having said that, a couple of English lads and I did get robbed in Acapulco. “They managed to take our backpacks — we were on the beach — without waking us up, which I was told was quite lucky. “If we had disturbed them, they would probably have killed us.”