It’s not every day you get to watch Ray Davies enjoy a full English breakfast and a cup of tea. Unless, that is, you spend every day in the Highgate branch of Café Rouge, in north London. The former Kinks frontman comes in “on a daily basis” and always places the same order, says Thea Karmpini, formerly the cafe’s assistant manager.
Davies is not alone. The Highgate branch of the chain, which is scoffed at by foodies, has become almost as much of a celeb hangout as the Ivy or Soho House.
Jude Law comes in with his children. Kate Moss sits outside with her dog and a cup of coffee. Like Davies, director Christopher Nolan eschews the French onion soup and the steak baguette and opts for the full English. The actor Matt Smith, the newsreader Jon Snow and the film-maker Terry Gilliam have all been spotted there. George Michael, who lived round the corner, was a regular. For months after his death, Karmpini says, friends and fans came in to pay tribute to the musician. “People were so emotional,” she says. “It was very touching.”
Liam Gallagher is another frequent visitor; recently, he took the Guardian in for an interview. When the branch’s manager, Colin Jamieson, read the resulting piece, he called his boss. “Fame at last,” was the response. Jamieson says they “had a good laugh about it”.
Interviews are common. “I always thought customers meant job interviews, but I’m not so sure now,” says Jamieson, who points out that the cafe’s many “nooks and crannies” make it a good place for those in search of quiet and discretion. Wealthy, but still retaining vestiges of liberal bohemianism, Highgate is home to a number of rich artists who appreciate privacy, but don’t want to feel like they live in a gated community.
Eating my croque monsieur, I can see the attraction: the place is enormous, set on various levels, half-full of mostly well-heeled, retired ladies and gentlemen, and quite cosy. It is also Café Rouge, where the 90s never died, which makes it an appropriate setting for some of the main players of Cool Britannia – Jude, Kate and Liam – and the people who influenced them.
