About

The Arbuturian is a gourmet, lifestyle, culture and travel magazine for the globetrotting connoisseur with an appetite for adventure, a taste for the high-life and an appreciation for all things elegant. In the spirit of Jerome K Jerome and The Idler Magazine (1892-1911), we publish regular monologues and light-hearted commentaries about life, the universe and everything, from known authors, award-winning journalists and respected critics, and our very own squadron of scribblers. Our musings are interspersed with a cherry-picked selection of the very best things to eat, see and do, both at home and abroad, accompanied by a host of interviews and features about the rich, the famous and the obscure.

The Three Arbuteers

The Arbuturian was founded in Central London by swashbuckling media upstarts Jonesy, Lawrence and Stirling (aka The Three Arbuteers), who are joined by a number of regular contributing journalists and published authors from around the world, extending our network to diverse and truly global proportions.

Stirling; known for his regular participation in triathlons and other masochistic endurance tests, Stirling is our expert on a wide variety of gourmet ingredients, with a particular interest in the finest coffees available to humanity. He can often be observed lurking around the bars of Central London coffee houses, sniffing beans with wild eyes and his caffeine shakes. He is one of the creators behind the Total Politics ezine and keeps his ear close to London’s business community.

Lawrence; renowned for his exotic and unusual adventures to far flung places, Larry is an explorer of the highest order, last seen wrapped in a yashmak in the midst of the Gilf Kebir desert. He is our travel and cultural correspondent, usually found scribbling illegible notes in his fabled Moleskine diary. Occasionally he sends us a message from his Blackberry (and once, in a bottle) to let us know that he’s lost in terra incognita and can we pay off his library card as he could be away for some time.

Jonesy; as our long-suffering Editor, Jonesy can be found hobnobbing in various private members’ clubs pretending that it has something to do with work. Dubbed as the Rain Man of the catering industry, he is our very own walking directory of chefs, cuisines, restaurants and ratings. His obsessive approach to restaurant criticism has earned him both praise and ridicule (mainly the latter), and he boasts that Michel Roux once made him a sausage sandwich.

The Scribbling Squadron

Al; theatre critic, broadcaster, Edinburgh literary judge and gentleman scholar, Al is one of our most treasured assets. With a love of fine wines, Italian food and eclectic conversation, time spent with Al harks back to the heady days of the 1920s dining societies whose raison d’être was to set the world to rights over a meal of the finest produce in the most convivial of company; though he would like us to mention that the 1920s are not within his living memory.

Girl Thursday; our bespoke events expert, Girl Thursday makes things happen. From luxury pampering days to the most resplendent parties, product launches, shows and private soirées, her little black book is brimming with details of the most fantastic places to see and be seen in London. A former theatre producer in London’s West End and beyond, her theatrical skills are now put to use in prose for The Arbuturian, and in practice at her dazzling sought-after occasions.

Woodward; a seasoned broadsheet journalist with an eagle eye for a great story and a knack of being in the wrong place at the right time, WW travels the globe and roads closer to home in search of fascinating tales to recount to our readers. Having spent time in the company of notorious guerrilla armies there is very little that fazes WW, though he still cannot bring himself to have a go on the London Eye.

Laura; a goddess of the grape, highly trained in the dark art of oenology, Laura is our very own wine expert with a complex understanding of what makes a fantastic plonk. Although she has sampled the delights of a 1982 Château Lafite-Rothschild that cost more than she cares to remember, her heart lies with the boutique vintners who are producing some of the most exciting wines on the market today. Look out for Laura’s weekly wine recommendation.

Harry; a dishevelled, overworked hack with a strange likeness to Lieutenant Columbo, Harry sits on our news desk, sifting through the daily raft of press releases and breaking stories to pluck out items of interest for our readers. Often found loitering in dark alleyways – apparently that’s how one finds a story – Harry likes nothing better than chewing on a cheap cigar and mulling over the merits of purchasing a new raincoat.

Felicity; a former It-Girl and socialite who is most often found sipping and smiling in the stylish cocktail bars and tea rooms of Central London, Fee is our First Lady of Lifestyle when it comes to informing readers of the hottest trends, fashions and frivolities of the zeitgeist. While she doesn’t get out of bed for anything less than “a considerable sum”, she can usually be enticed into the office on the promise of a new interior design book to review or a fashion event to attend.