{"id":641830,"date":"2025-12-19T08:02:26","date_gmt":"2025-12-19T08:02:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/641830\/"},"modified":"2025-12-19T08:02:26","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T08:02:26","slug":"designer-giles-deacon-loves-st-jamess-park-for-dates-and-st-john-for-dining","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/641830\/","title":{"rendered":"Designer Giles Deacon loves St James’s Park for dates, and St John for dining"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"STYLE\"<\/p>\n

I’ve been living in London since the 1980s. I live at this moment in time in Islington and I’ve been in that area \u2013 the sort of Old Street-Hackney-Islington triangle which is akin to a Bermuda triangle of London \u2013 since 1996. I’ve seen it change an awful lot of the years, in lots of quite wonderful ways.<\/p>\n

Where was your first flat in London?<\/p>\n

One of my first flats was very close to Pentonville Prison. I really enjoyed living there off the Caledonian Road. That was a really good place to be.<\/p>\n

What was your first job in London?<\/p>\n

I moved to London to study fashion at Central Saint Martins and I was a model for an illustrator called Colin Barnes. That was a great job to have at college because it was sort of educational and I got a bit of cash in the pocket. He paid well, and he was a very respected fashion illustrator.<\/p>\n

He used to have a wonderful office on Brewer Street, a house in Holland Park and an apartment in Paris. He had a really beautiful technique and was a very elegant character from another time, almost. I loved that job.<\/p>\n

Where in London would you recommend for a first date? <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

(James Manning\/PA)<\/p>\n

PA Wire<\/p>\n

I think a first date for me is a chance to utilise any of the main royal parks of London. I love using those. I particularly like St. James’s Park, walking through there, and that’s a great way of getting to see all sorts of nostalgic vistas of London as well.<\/p>\n

Everybody’s got an imprint to a certain degree of what the silhouettes of London are. And I think at dusk it’s particularly beautiful. A dusk autumn walk through St. James’s Park is an absolute treat.<\/p>\n

Which London shops do you rely on?<\/p>\n

Near the studio there’s a very good baker called The Dusty Knuckle. I also like to go to the St. John Bakery. The nearest one for me is in St. John’s Street. So, when I’m bombing around there, I call in and pick up doughnuts. <\/p>\n

For very special things, I love going to Fortnum and Masons. I like to get a combination of things, including exotic condiments, and I love their own piccalilli. That’s a real favourite of mine.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the best meal you\u2019ve had in London?<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

p3 st john fergus henderson<\/p>\n

Flickr<\/p>\n

Oh my god, what a question. Probably some of my favourite meals have been at St. John. I’ve been going there regularly for such a long time, since 1995, and I’ve had many memorable meals there. I’m a big fan of Fergus Henderson<\/a>‘s work, and Margot, his wife, has the Rochelle Canteen at Arnold Circus, which I’ve also had some wonderful meals at. Fergus used to trial his ice creams up there. Things like gingerbread ice cream, which is absolutely delicious.<\/p>\n

Who is the most iconic Londoner in history?<\/p>\n

I’m quite fascinated by Sir Christopher Wren. I guess, in one sense because his vision for what London could be still stands up from a logistics and aesthetic perspective so wonderfully now.<\/p>\n

I love the fact that he had his studio on the opposite side of the Thames. While St Paul’s was being built, he could see it all from his bedroom window. There’s something um undeniably romantic about that.<\/p>\n

Where in London do you go to let your hair down?<\/p>\n

Probably St. James’s Park, for picnics and a stroll. I like running through the parks as well. I think that’s a good way of letting my hair down.<\/p>\n

What’s your biggest extravagance?<\/p>\n

I think probably at the moment living in London is quite an extravagance. And I hope I’m able to continue that extravagance for a long time.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s your London secret?<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Sir John Soane\u2019s Museum<\/p>\n

Daniel Lynch<\/p>\n

I mean it’s maybe not such a hidden gem but I have an incredible fondness for Sir John Soane\u2019s Museum which is very well known and hugely respected, but it’s not so much on the map like some of the larger museums. That’s a real gem and it never fails to amaze me, the level of the beauty that place has.<\/p>\n

What are you up to at the moment for work?<\/p>\n

One of the things I’m very excited about at the moment is a takeover of the beautiful Georgian dining rooms at 40 Greek Street. They’ve got four spaces and 50 artworks of mine which have been worked on from present day back over a decade are there.<\/p>\n

We’ve made some Georgian bustles which are kind of like giant wreath bows and some tableaux with carnivorous plants and rooms, all to complement the artworks. There\u2019s a special menu, too, created with Tom Collins.<\/p>\n

The Gilded Mischief is at Soho House, 40 Greek Street for the festive season<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I’ve been living in London since the 1980s. I live at this moment in time in Islington and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":641831,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7757],"tags":[748,393,197383,197381,4884,257,197382,179673,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-641830","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-london","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-england","10":"tag-fergus-henderson","11":"tag-giles-deacon","12":"tag-great-britain","13":"tag-london","14":"tag-st-jamess-park","15":"tag-st-john","16":"tag-uk","17":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115745191639346758","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/641830","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=641830"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/641830\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/641831"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=641830"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=641830"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=641830"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}