Who’s Who: Giles Coren feels like ‘fouling on the doorstep of every London dog owner’

Food critic Giles Coren. Picture: Nigel Sutton.

Thursday, March 21, 2013
5:00 PM

Giles Coren, 43, is a food critic and columnist for The Times. He lives in Kentish Town with his wife Esther and daughter Kitty. His latest book How To Eat Out is now available to buy in paperback. This week, he appears in the Ham&High’s Who’s Who section of the newspaper.

What brought you to Kentish Town?

I have always lived in north London, but when I left home I wanted to live somewhere more lively than dreary old West Hampstead, where I grew up. My best friend was renting in Kentish Town, so I bought a flat here.

Can you think of one thing about Kentish Town that the rest of north London just doesn’t offer?

You can walk across the Heath to Hampstead for tea, but if you lived in Hampy you wouldn’t bother to walk over to Kentish, so what would you do? Also it has Kentish Town Baths, Eleanor Palmer School, The Bull and Last pub, and the Owl Bookshop.

If you could see one change in Kentish Town, what would that be?

I’d like them to get rid of the dog poo that bespaffs all the nice residential streets. It is disgusting. I can’t believe we allow it. We wouldn’t let people do it, so why dogs? It makes me feel like personally fouling the doorstep of every dog owner in London.

As guest editor of the Ham&High for a day, what one local issue would you most like to see reported?

The tragic destruction of lovely front gardens by wealthy idiots with no soul who put carriage drives in front of their houses so they can stare at their stupid Porsche Cayenne from the front room.

If you and I were going out for a meal in north London – you are paying and trying to impress me – where would you take me?

I would not ever try to impress someone with a restaurant. I take everyone to Pizza East or Chicken Shop (which is underneath it) because I can see it from my house and I walk there in two minutes.

A film is set to be made about your life. Which actor would you choose to play you and why?

My friend Tom Ward, because I suspect he doesn’t get offered the roles he should on account of being so closely associated with his character in Silent Witness. He would make me appear to be handsome and cool. And thin. And posh.

Giles Coren was in conversation with Tim Lamden.