The Steeple Times

Tag: London

  • Arthur's delight

    Arthur's delight

    A review of Arthur’s Cafe, Kingsland Road, E8

     

    Arthur Woodham was born on Christmas Day 1927. He and his family have run a traditional British café in Kingsland Road, Dalston since 1935.

     

    Arthur is a truly fascinating gent who likes and maintains a routine. I met him at La Brasserie in South Kensington one Saturday last year and in the time since we’ve become firm friends and meet each week. When another of the group who regularly gather at the happy hour asked what made him come to South Kensington for drinks, Arthur jovially replied: “I don’t drink in my manor.”

     

    Arthur’s Cafe, 495 Kingsland Road, Dalston, London, E8 4AU

    The oldest cafe in the Kingsland Road, Arthur’s itself attracts a wide and varied clientele of builders, locals and old ladies. The actor Ade, who appeared in Guy Ritchie’s Snatch, is often to be spotted here and others include the businessman Stephen Annett, who ventures over from Kensington for breakfast from time to time. Arthur welcomes all with a cheery smile and his family, equally, are hospitable in the extreme.

     

    At Arthur’s Cafe, no toast is served after 11.30am and no chips are served before noon. Serviettes and glasses are placed on the tables at 11.30am also and at this juncture Arthur puts on a fresh jacket. Here indeed is a well-run business where sequenced order reigns.

     

    The menu is simple but the ingredients used are of the highest quality. A particular highlight of the full English breakfast had to be the sausages. Arthur proudly told us that these come from a butcher who also supplies Marks & Spencer and frankly they were amongst the finest I’d tried in an age. Equally, Arthur’s mustard was powerful and punchy and I must highly commend that as well as the delicious crusty bread.

     

    Tea at Arthur’s Cafe is very much of the builder’s variety: robust, rich and strong brown in colour. A note of sophistication comes also in the form of the San Pellegrino Aranciata orange juices that are also available.

     

    Arthur Woodham

    We’ll leave the final word with Arthur himself:

     

    “I like it, this is my life. You’ve got to like it to keep in it. I meet people. I speak to people. In the cafe, if you like it, you make a lot of friends.”

     

    Arthur’s Cafe, 495 Kingsland Road, Dalston, London, E8 4AU. Telephone: +44 (0) 20 7254 3391.

     

    Watch a video feature by Cavan Clerkin on Arthur’s Cafe at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qaHh3FNG8OU

  • Raffaele Mincione

    Raffaele Mincione

    He was once engaged to Heather Mills but had a very lucky escape when she chose to marry Sir Paul McCartney instead. This Italian banker got the bargain of the century when he purchased 25 Lennox Gardens in Knightsbridge for just £18 million. The asking price had been set at £40 million and a previous offer of £34 million had been rejected.

  • Steven Berkoff

    Steven Berkoff

    Steven Berkoff is a titan of the stage and a might with a pen. He’s best known for playing the darkest of characters but in reality he’s charm personified. Berkoff beat Julie Burchill in a libel case in 1996 and finds it “flattering” to play evil characters. He lives on the river in a converted warehouse in Limehouse with his delightful partner, the Danish pianist Clara Fischer, and often sports the snazziest loafers in town.

  • The Hon. Imogen Lloyd Webber

    The Hon. Imogen Lloyd Webber

    The daughter of the composer Andrew Lloyd Webber lives in New York and is a contributor to MSNBC. Her Single Girl’s Guide was published in both the UK and America and her debut show Touched… For The Very First Time was a mighty success in the West End in 2009. Described as a “petite polymath,” Imogen Lloyd Webber digitally published The Twitter Diaries in May 2012. Turning tweets into a novel, this co-written e-book has been lauded as: “Bridget Jones tries social networking.”

     

  • Michael Savage (born Michael Alan Weiner)

    Michael Savage (born Michael Alan Weiner)

    The Savage Nation radio host calls himself an “independent-minded individualist” who “fits no stereotype.” (more…)

  • Alexandra Naylor

    Alexandra Naylor

    Sociable and serious, Naylor is a hostess par excellence. She worked as an oil analyst for Sheikh Yamani at the Saudi Arabian Oil Ministry and is now involved in Latin American politics in the UK. She also does a little translating work and dabbles in property. Charm personified, Naylor is a lady who it is joy to spend time with.

  • Erik Wachtmeister

    Erik Wachtmeister

    He founded ASmallWorld.net, “The Facebook for the Few,” in 2004 and has now created his second social network, the Best of All Worlds. This son of a Swedish diplomat and ambassador began his career in investment banking but then moved into the domains of the net with first Viking Internet and then his “MySpace for Millionaires.” With an address book that is unrivalled, this jetsetter is undoubtedly a gent well worth watching.

  • Dmitry Rybolovlev

    Dmitry Rybolovlev

    This billionaire businessman started out in medicine but soon moved into commerce realising that enterprise would better provide for his family. He was imprisoned on falsified charges of contract murder for 11 months in 1996. Subsequently cleared, Rybolovlev then went on to make his fortune in potassium and banking. This divorced father of two has used his fortune to fund the restoration of many of Russia’s churches and also bought Donald Trump’s former residence, The Masion de L’Amitie in Palm Beach, Florida, for $95 million in 2008. This risk taker also parted with another $88 million in December 2011 to purchase New York’s most expensive apartment for his 22-year old daughter. Rybololev’s passions are surfing and 19th and 20th century art.

  • Gina Miller

    Gina Miller

    This modern day suffragette is a philanthropist and founding partner of SCM Private, a Belgravia based firm of wealth managers. Gina Miller has three degrees, is originally from Guyana, South America and is leading a fight against the conflicts of interest and lack of transparency in the city and charities. With her husband, Alan, she was a major contributor to the Lady Thatcher Infirmary at the Royal Hospital. Her Miller Philanthropy foundation and Goodwill Exchange volunteer exchange are just two examples of the achievements of this truly powerful and driven giver.

  • Alan Miller

    Alan Miller

    The nephew of That’s Life!’s Esther Rantzen is a financial titan and philanthropist. Miller is a founding partner and CIO of SCM Private, a Sloane Street based wealth management firm, but he’s best known for his successes at New Star Asset Management, Jupiter Asset Management and Gartmore Invetment Management. Here is a man of principle who has also run the London Marathon twice and the New York Marathon thrice.