A coast for all seasons

It all started with Padstein and Olga Polizzi's reinvention of seaside sleek - the Tresanton, a hotel that brought West Coast chic (California, not Cardigan) to Britain. Then the Eden Project opened, and Ryanair moved in. All of a sudden, Cornwall was happening. Has Britain's western-most county really redefined itself as hip?

It was good enough this summer for Coldplay, who picked the reassuringly intimate Hall for Cornwall in Truro for its Glastonbury warm-up gig. The 1,000-seater theatre is now hoping to book Ash. Good enough also for Wall Street banker Sheryl Young to move in and open a Tresanton wannabe - The Lugger Hotel - with her Cornish husband Richard (the original Tresanton GM) in postcard-perfect Portloe.

Attractive enough, also, for thirty-something Cornishman Patrick Polglase to club together with two mates and buy the King Harry Ferry, which takes cars across the River Fal on the Roseland Peninsula. So convinced are they of Cornwall's year-round class that they are launching a website next month for potential visitors in autumn, winter and spring to visit the parts they wouldn't normally reach.

It's pretty amazing for one of the poorest regions of Europe, a county which has struggled to live by surfers, Rick Stein and absentee summer homeowners alone. Cornwall qualifies for Objective One funding from the EU, which is providing around £300 million of investment over six years for projects covering the arts, tourism and food. Cornwall knows it's now or never if it is to turn seasonal tourism into reliable year-round cash.

But are there any class acts beyond the boundaries of Rock and Padstow? Locals say that eating in Cornwall is now better than - gasp - France. Partly due to the Americanisation of French food, the argument goes, but also because a huge percentage of seafood on the Continent isn't locally caught - as Cornwall's is. Rising Cornish kitchen star Gareth Eddy says: "We've a right to cook fish. French food is based on a beautiful sauce, not the freshness of the ingredients."

On the accommodation front, modern renditions of coastal chic in everything from ancient inns to classic seaside hotels have raised the game for hoteliers. Room rates at the fledgling Lugger Hotel are almost as high as those of Tresanton. Nothing cheap about The Lemon Street Gallery in Truro, either, whose international buyers bag Kurt Jackson and W Barns-Graham paintings by phone. That's not to say that good old Cornish character is in decline - there can't be many places where you can buy Scotch with your stamps - but in tiny Constantine, the Post Office has probably the biggest selection of malt whiskies outside Scotland.

Perfect Winter Hideaways:

In an impossibly pretty fishing village, The Lugger Hotel is right at the water's edge. Rooms are restfully decked in a pale palette of taupe and white, and a never-too-many-pillows philosophy prevails. Pick a room overlooking the cove, perfect for stormy nights tucked up inside. Half-board is the best deal - dinner portions are generous. Recover over coffee in the beamed but slightly over-bright sitting room.

The Lugger Hotel (01872 501 322), Portloe. From 1 November, doubles from £180 B&B, £220 half-board, suites £220 and £260. Next year, the lifeboat house alongside will provide three new rooms including a top-floor suite with spa bathroom.

There's something du Maurierish about the setting of Driftwood, in an atmospheric garden atop a headland and terraced down to the beach. Chalky-toned rooms with slubby Andrew Martin textiles in the main building, but I'd opt to curl up in the private, two-bedroom Cabin - the converted summerhouse - and have supper by hurricane lamp. Driftwood (01872 580644), Rosevine. Doubles from £140 B&B until 3 November, then same rate includes dinner. The Cabin, £170 B&B.

THE Old School Hotel is a colourful addition to Port Isaac, offering clifftop walks from the doorstep. The 1875 slate-and-render schoolhouse has original slate-and-wood floors - the vaulted hall, with soaring Gothic windows, now houses the restaurant. "I've tried to bring the seaside inside," says owner Louise Houston, of its modern art and Mediterranean colour washes.

The Old School Hotel (01208 880721), Port Isaac. From October, two nights' half-board for two, £232, and a third night's B&B free.

Kitchen Confidential

The best fish I've eaten all year was at the pub-with-rooms Trengilly Wartha Inn (01326 340 332). Glaswegian Mike Maguire treats fresh ingredients with respect. Business partner Nigel Logan's wine list is as long as the Old Testament - and they do off-sales. The French have already discovered it.

Now serving: roast loin of Cornish venison on a celeriac potato cake layered-with walnut stuffing and redcurrant-sauce (restaurant). Local sea bass fillets on fennel sauce (bar).

FOR self-caterers, the local food co-operative at Gear Farm Shop (01326 221150), St Martin, near Helston, sells organic meat, fish, greengrocery and ice-cream, plus Cornish cheese and ready meals. Now serving: squash, chard, kohlrabi, crab claws, monkfish.

Padstow's new pretender

Snapping at Stein's heels is 29-year-old Gareth Eddy, whose restaurant, Pescadou (01841 532359), is in Padstow's Old Custom House. "Padstow is the Kinsale of Cornwall," says Eddy, "and Cornwall is about supplies. I can stop supplies going to London and get them fresh here." Now serving: pan-fried Padstow squid, served over Chinese leaves from Padstow Herb Garden, finished with a spiced-potato-and-olive-oil sauce, followed by fillet of Cornish sea bass served with oversteamed vegetables topped with fennel-and-leek crisp, finished with a fennel-andvanilla beurre blanc.

First-class Cornish

? Bomb down the lanes in anything from a 1974 Triumph Stag to an E-Type Jag. Cornwall Classic Car Hire (0845 4581108) delivers to Bodmin Parkway station and Newquay airport. From £199 for a weekend.

? Ensure delicacies await in your rented cottage. Cornish hampers can be made up and delivered in the west Cornwall area; from www. westcornwallhampers.co.uk.

? King Harry's Cornwall, an off-season guide to the Roseland Peninsula, on www.kingharryscornwall.co.uk.

? Sally Shalam travelled to Truro with First Great Western (08457 000 >125), current Apex fares from £31 return (quote reference 0189).