About

The Arbuturian is a magazine for the globetrotting connoisseur with an appetite for adventure and a taste for the highlife. We publish intelligent content for a cultured readership who seek a playful yet highbrow approach to a diverse range of subject matter.

The Arbuturian was founded in Central London by swashbuckling publishing upstarts Jonesy, Lawrence and Stirling (aka The Three Arbuteers), who are joined by a team of over 35 writers, contributing journalists and critics from around the world.

————————– The Management ————————–

Ash ‘Jonesy’ Lipkin; the lovechild of Bertie Wooster and Cruella de Vil, Jonesy is our Editor-in-Chief, who spends his time alternating between the African wilderness – getting bitten, chased and molested by hostile animals – and the elegant restaurants of London, where he feigns a knowledge of wine. He avoids work with a passion, and refuses to answer the phone before 11am.

Toby ‘Lawrence’ White; our Managing Editor overseeing arts and travel, Lawrence is renowned for his exotic adventures to far flung places. He occasionally 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. He is also partial to brass band music.

Chris ‘Stirling’ Skarratt; known for his regular participation in triathlons and other masochistic endurance tests, Stirling’s military fortitude is nothing short of inhuman. The Arb’s Managing Editor overseeing anything related to vintage motoring or free whisky, Stirling is also a successful entrepreneur in the online, digital and creative industries (i.e. a media megalomaniac).

————————– The Regulars ————————–

Maddie York; a writer, journalist and The Arbuturian’s eagle-eyed Assistant Editor, Miss York is curious and vociferous about manners and social mores. She is hypersensitive to grammar misuse, carries an extremely sharp HB pencil in her handbag, seems always to be on a train, and considers it her calling to rail against bad behaviour and incorrect punctuation.

Paul Joyce; our roving travel writer and the great-grand-nephew of literary giant, James Joyce, Paul is a true polymath with too many accomplishments to mention here, being an artist, photographer, filmmaker, theatre and television director and writer, with numerous photographic works on permanent display at the Tate Gallery and the National Portrait Gallery in London.

Kate Lawson; The Arb’s ever stylish Fashion Editor, Kate contributes to Metro, ELLE, V, The Huff Post, Huh, Trendland and others. She has appeared as a fashion commentator on radio, and was also nominated for Marie Claire UK’s Best Fashion Twitter feed. Often spotted with 1) Gin 2) Her iPad2 or 3) Someone she shouldn’t be spotted with. Favourite saying, “Ask my PA”.

Alex Larman; harshly but accurately described by a frenemy as ‘a terrible disaster with a posh voice and a bad character’, Alex scampers jauntily from fine dining restaurant to theatre to luxury hotel to opera house. Sometimes he pauses his sybaritic life of debauchery to scribble for publications that have included GQ, The Times and The Observer. And, of course, The Arbuturian.

Jessica Baldwin; an award-winning luxury travel journalist, Jess stops at nothing on her quest to uncover the world’s most luxurious spas and indulgent (and unusual) beauty treatments. Struggling to breathe whilst her face was plated in 24 carat gold in Tuscany, and enduring 1000 injections as her own blood was re-injected into her face in Spain, currently top the list.

Lavinia Blundell-White; a mistress of dreamlike prose that cuts deep into one’s soul with a serrated edge dipped in sugar, Lavinia spends her time taking baths in Chanel No. 5 while talking on the telephone to unsuitable boys. She immerses herself in dusty shelves of black vinyl, cherishing life’s music and intrigue. Expect the unexpected and prepare to be led astray.

Noah May; a restaurant critic spinning webs of silken words in the parlours of the London cognoscenti, amidst undulating swathes of posh nosh and vino fino. Noah’s daily billet in the wine department of Christie’s auction house has cemented a near mystic understanding of sacred terroirs and ancient vines. It must also be known that Noah is no slouch when it comes to idling.

Gabrielle Sander; a food, travel, lifestyle and celebrity journalist with a penchant for Earl Grey tea, penny sweets and anything that she can eat without detrimental side effects. Known to partake in a spa day or two followed by a luxuriant Michelin-starred meal somewhere on the French Riviera, Gabrielle takes the business of lifestyle journalism very seriously indeed.

Douglas Blyde; the intelligible master of intoxicating prose, imbibing fine wines that fortify the spirit and sipping spirits that sanctify the soul, Douglas is a gallivanting gastronome with a penchant for a poetical turn of phrase, rarely seen without a tie but almost constantly behind a table strewn with edible delights that he crafts into words which speak to one’s stomach.

Mina Holland; a professional hedonist and writer, Mina is South London born, Norfolk bred and a little bit Hispanic at heart; her eclectic roots and insatiable greed have fuelled an interest in food, culture and food culture. She has a weakness for octopus, good quality drinking vessels and reggaeton. Her words regularly grace the pages of The Guardian and The Observer.

Simon Rumley; described by Screen International as “one of the great British cinematic outsiders, a gifted director with the know-how to puncture the conventions of horror,” Rumley is a creative tour-de-force, known for his witty and challenging productions that spit in the face of cinematic mediocrity. He is also a talented screenwriter and a pioneering art curator.

Jackie Lee; an insatiable food writer, photographer, cook and traveller, Jackie is the very embodiment of a foodie. When she isn’t eating, cooking, reading or writing about food, she’s probably out buying it. The granddaughter of Hong Kong’s very own Delia Smith, Jackie insists that she won’t become a celebrity sell-out (unless she’s paid in white truffles).

Harry Chapman; descended from the Shahs of Persia and Kermani feudal overlords on his mother’s side, and Norman knights, circus folk and at least one renegade Irishman on his father’s, Harry had a peripatetic early existence. During this time he became a reptile collector, and a mohicaned punk, and has since added the roles of artist, writer, designer, filmmaker and wanderer.

Estella Shardlow; frequently tempted across the globe by epicurean opportunities, Estella is a food, travel and lifestyle journalist with a penchant for pungent French cheeses and Fitzgerald novels. As editor of Vintage Seekers, she can legitimately spend the working day gazing at 1960s cinecitta posters and sampling Burgundy grand cru. Accepts Ladurée macaroons as currency.

Steve Thompson; a rock star and a stand up comic, are things that Steve would like to be. In reality, he is an acclaimed cartoonist, writer and film critic, his cartoons described as “delightfully weird” and his choice of movie almost always offbeat, surprising and of unparalleled good taste. He is also responsible for designing The Arbuturian’s logo. Steve’s weekly comic can be found here.

Lucy Shaw; a wine scribe with a penchant for poetry, white truffles and purple velvet, Lucy spends her days imbibing the finest wines known to humanity at tastings, and her evenings doing much the same at wine dinners. When not being wined and dined, she enjoys exploring London’s clandestine debauchery dens, ambling around art galleries and watching foreign films.

Sophie McLean; our international maiden of mystery, Sophie spends more time out of the country than in it. A self-confessed Italophile and a lover of all things vinous, when she’s not reposing somewhere suitably superb, you’ll find her zipping around the country in fabulous supercars, thoughtfully admiring arty accolades, and sampling the best of London’s watering holes and eateries.

Nick Hammond; a freelance layabout of the highest class, who likes nothing more than enjoying fine cigars from around the globe. He’s quite partial to Scotch, wine and great food too, and has been known to mix all four indiscriminately. Nick, alias Monty Cristo, selflessly researches rare and aged Havanas, so you don’t have to. Read his column for the greatest schmokes.

Milla Msa; a Paris-based fashion writer, usually seen strutting her stuff along the boulevards of Faubourg Saint-Honoré, Milla is at the forefront of the here and now, reporting from the world’s chicest fashion capital. Bringing our readers the latest and greatest of designers, trends, styles and emerging names, her fashion column is every girl’s essential style accessory.

David J Constable; is greedy. He’s an inveterate traveller and austere gastronome with an unhealthy obsession with Scotch eggs. His writing is acerbic and often satirical, covering travel, food and culture. A proud Englishman, David enjoys Earl Grey, toffee ice-cream and a fitted tweed jacket.

Victoria ‘Tori’ Haschka; a Sydney born food and travel writer, Tori’s recent achievements include; completing her ‘quest for the best’ to eat at the top ten restaurants in the world, swallowing fermented shark in Iceland and stalking the best places to eat in more than 25 cities. She can usually be found cursing the proliferation of wine served in tumblers.

Adam Steel; a self-proclaimed art / music / film aficionado and writer, over the years, Adam has penned an exhaustive catalogue of anecdotal humour and distinguished criticisms. Cursed with a crippling addiction to Criterion DVDs, he often broods about what he believes to be the approaching extinction of postcards and the printing press.

Shana Ting Lipton; a multinational travel and culture journalist who may or may not be an international spy, Shana is a reformed portmanteau word abuser who is addicted to snagging pens from 5-star hotels. When she’s not charming famous billionaires or discussing quantum and nuclear physics with nonagenarian scientists, she’s at home watching 60s cult films.

Nick Carvell; if he’s not checking style blogs or burying his nose in the latest copy of The Rake, Nick is most likely to be found writing about men’s style in a South London coffee shop. Disclaimer: prone to rather unhealthy levels of obsession over tassled loafers, Luis Morais bracelets and tortoiseshell glasses.

Qin Xie; if the softly spoken gastronome didn’t need to constantly satiate her foodie abyss with gourmet treats, then perhaps she would have some time to consider pursuing musings of intellectual enquiry. Instead, Qin spends her days partaking in and writing about adventures in food, drink and travel as a maverick gourmand (and freelance journalist).

John Underwood; often seen obscuring a more worthy writer’s view of the screen or stage with his frankly gratuitous shoulders, John is a critic of almost everything and promises he will one day do something constructive. He’s usually to be found trying to reconcile his love of fine dining with his horror of butter in all its monstrous forms, or redrafting the first (and only) sentence of his novel.