Frank Lampard's My London

The Chelsea footballer parties at Whisky Mist and would love to live on Kensington Palace Gardens

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Hannah Nathanson

10 June 2013

Home is…

Chelsea. I’m an Essex boy originally but I’ve been converted and I even have a weird infatuation with Made In Chelsea now.

First thing you do when you arrive back in London?

Throw out the ‘off’ milk in the fridge and head to my nearest Tesco Metro, or have a Sunday roast in The Pig’s Ear on Old Church Street in Chelsea. I own it with my dad.

Most romantic thing someone’s done for you?

Christine [Bleakley, his partner] cooked me roast lamb for a night in on the sofa with candlelight and a lovely bottle of red wine.

Last play you saw?

I took my daughters Luna, seven, and Isla, six, to see Shrek the Musical at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane. They both loved it so much that we then booked tickets to see Matilda.

Earliest memory?

A big day out coming up from Essex when I was 11. My parents took me shopping in Harrods and then for dinner at Scalini’s, an Italian restaurant on Walton Street. I still go there now and eat the same dish, penne arrabiata.

Best meal?

50-hour aged steak at Heston Blumenthal’s Dinner at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel. It was like cutting silk.

What would you do as Mayor?

I would stop buses and cabbies feeling like they own the roads and pulling out whenever they want and then getting angry when you get in their way.

Building you’d like to live in?

One of the houses on Kensington Palace Gardens where all the big hitters live. The rooms in those houses are almost as big as football pitches.

Favourite London pub?

When I lived in Wapping 12 years ago I liked going to the Captain Kidd on the river. I also like the villagey feel of The Sun Inn in Barnes.

Favourite shops?

For everyday clothes, Matches in Notting Hill and Zara off the King’s Road. If I’m going top-end, Dolce & Gabbana on Sloane Street. I love reading the paper with an Americano at Caffè Nero on Fulham Road. For present buying I go to Harrods because there are great personal shoppers, who point me in the right direction.

Best thing a cabbie has said to you?

It’s best when they don’t say anything at all. I have a lot of good football talk with cabbies, but when you want to get somewhere in a hurry it can be distracting. I always know they’re going to want to talk football if Talksport is on the radio.

Ever had a run-in with a policeman?

I’ve been stopped a couple of times driving home late from a game. I normally get a little telling off for going a bit fast.

What do you collect?

Nothing. I need the house to be minimal.

Best place for a nightcap?

A brandy at Vingt Quatre on Fulham Road. Just the one and then I’d be off to sleep.

Who’s your hero?

My mum. She was an amazing person who managed to make everyone around her feel comfortable. She ran the perfect house and family.

Who do you call when you want to have fun?

Ashley Cole because he’s a man about town and he’d know exactly where to go for a good time, let’s put it that way.

Biggest extravagance?

Holidays. I like short breaks to Portofino in Italy.

Best piece of advice you’ve been given?

Stay humble and never gloat: from my parents.

Animal you’d most like to be?

A cheetah because they’re so fast and have amazing balance. Being faster would probably make me better at football.

Last album you downloaded?

Home by Rudimental.

Best place to let your hair down?

Whisky Mist at the Hilton on Park Lane. I’ve got great memories of going out there when we won the league and all the wives and girlfriends were there.

At the moment you are…

Sitting on the sofa waiting for Christine to cook me dinner; homemade fish and chips.

Frank Lampard’s first book for children, Frankie’s Magic Football: Frankie vs the Pirate Pillagers, is out now (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, £4.99)

Frank Lampard will be doing a public book signing of the first title of the brand-new Frankie’s Magic Football series at Harrods in the Toy Kingdom on Saturday 22 June from 2pm. Full details and Ts&Cs regarding the signing queue are on the Harrods website:

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Kensington And Chelsea

Frank Lampard's My London

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