“Do you want me to order for you?”
At last a proper date with a proper gentleman! I peer over my menu and nod toward Julian. Looks like Don’t Panic decided to have a go at proper match making this time. He is 28, tall, dark and handsome. He's even got a Jew fro (my parents will be pleased).
Julian has taken me to Konstam at the
Julian and Emily with Oliver Rowe
“Is there anything you don’t eat?” Julian asks as the waiter waits patiently for our order.
“No.” My eyes wonder down the menu. “Is the pigeon from Trafalgar square?” I joke.
“Yeah, we don’t run out,” the waiter shoots back.
I lean back in my chair and allow Julian to order my food. It is nice letting someone else take the lead for once. The wine is poured, produced in
STARTERS
Charcoal-grilled Mersea squid with fennel seed & caraway dressing £7.50
Deep-fried stuffed courgette flowers with Norbury Blue & caper dressing £7.00
“So how long are you in
“Oh, just another couple of days. But I’m moving out here in November.” (The potential just keeps growing).
“Is
“In some ways I guess. But people are much more open here. A bit like
Emily stares at Julian a little too intently
MAINS
Mushroom, onion, sage & Crockhamdale tart with seasonal salads £11.50
Charcoal-grilled pigeon with roast summer vegetables & elderberry sauce £15.50
“I heard you sometimes don’t wear shoes on stage. Why is that?”
“Oh I don’t do that any more. I was just going through a hippy phase.”
“Like Joss stone?”
“Kind of. Here try some of the pigeon.” He pushes a piece of meat off his folk onto my plate. The strong flavour of the meat mixes perfectly with the roasted beetroot. I chew thoughtfully at my next question.
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Ha ha ha
“A lot of your songs are about love and getting your heart broken. Have you had your heart broken a lot?”
“Many, many times.” Gosh, there is something sexy about a man admitting his heart break. “American women are repressed. They are not like girls here who are open and know what they want. English girls don’t think twice at calling for a round of shots at a bar.”
“So what’s your song Joni about? Is she a girl who broke your heart?” He laughs at my question.
“No, I’m actually taking about a type of girl. Kind of like Joni Mitchell. A girl I would meet in a bar and we are drunk but she won’t go home with me. The kind of girl who has that natural physical intelligence; who is so confident within herself she would never want me. I want Sienna Miller to be in the video because she is kind of the modern personification of that.”
“Wow, do you think she’d do it?”
“Probably not. But hey, maybe if we can’t get her you could step in?’”
“Of course.” (He might not have been joking – right?)
DESSERT
An intimate Julian Velard gig at The Water Rats Theatre £-priceless
We wander through the delights of Kings Cross towards the venue.
“You’re lucky you know?”
“Why?” I ask.
“I don’t normally let girls come to my gigs until I’ve been seeing them for a while.”
“How come?”
“They go a bit funny.”
“Why?”
“Well I guess you could say my music is very girl friendly. If a girl I have only just started dating comes to see me, by the time I come off stage I’m married with two children.”
I laugh along with him at the ridiculousness of these women – trying not to think about the time I snogged the lead singer of a band in a toilet cubicle at this very venue. “Well I’ll try very hard not to get carried away while you’re on stage I promise.”
As Julian played all the girls in the audience hung their heads to the side and tapped their feet almost in unison. It was like watching the bloody Pied Piper. One thing is for sure, this guy is going to be massive. With lyrics like “I'm not like other guys” and “I can tell your lonely” he’ll have most of the women in
Julian Velard is 28; he is the son of a French immigrant and 4-Time jeopardy champion from
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