My Neighbourhood: Will Best

Welcome to the inaugural edition of My Neighbourhood. First up, it’s Will Best – livewire presenter and, crucially, Hackney resident. The Hits Radio host gave us the inside track on what’s good in his ’hood…

What is it that you love about Hackney?

I moved to Shoreditch in 2008 and immediately fell in love with it. It felt exciting. Loads of creative types were coming to make their base because it was still cheap-ish, and there were loads of great bars and a nightlife. I’ve always wanted to stay around this area, and over the years I've just moved slightly further out, up towards Hackney Central, but always kind of around Broadway Market and London Fields.

It just always feels like new things are happening: new places opening and new places to explore. The problem with it is you never need to grow up. Most of my mates have now grown up and moved away and moved to Walthamstow or Leytonstone or gone south to have kids. I'm still clinging on. And the longer I hold on, the more and more it resembles a midlife crisis every time I step out the door. But I still love it. I like the community. I like the variety of people. It feels like a proper melting pot, and it feels like proper London.

I still love it [Hackney]. I like the community. I like the variety of people. It feels like a proper melting pot, and it feels like proper London.

Talk us through the places you chose for the shoot…

The Chesham Arms is my favourite pub. The term ‘old man pub’ is massively overused and slightly offensive, but it has a more traditional vibe in terms of the decor. It hasn’t been overly produced or stage-managed. It's just a proper pub. I grew up in Yorkshire, in a town called Tadcaster, where they have three breweries, so bitter is a big part of daily life. This pub has an amazing selection of ales, which keeps me very happy.

Next up, it’s a lovely little café just around the corner from our flat, where my partner and I go after we've had too many drinks at the Chesham Arms for our hangover breakfast. It's called Well Street Kitchen. It does incredible hash browns and the most delicious homemade baked beans. The bacon is thick, the eggs are runny, and it's a beautiful, beautiful café. I love it.

Finally, once I've refuelled and had my fry-up, I'll take the dog for a walk in Victoria Park. Hackney has loads of lovely parks. We walk a lot in London Fields. Just around the corner, we go down to Haggerston Park. But Victoria Park is massive. It's got a bit of everything: beautiful garden areas, a lake, nice cafés and restaurants. It's just lovely, rain or shine.

What’s your perfect day in Hackney?

It would start with a good breakfast at Well Street Kitchen. Then I’d work up an appetite by either walking the dog around Victoria Park, or maybe even jogging around to burn off the fry-up. This is also to make room for a boozy lunch with friends somewhere on Broadway Market – Sune is amazing, with really good wines. That would last a long time, pushing almost towards dinner. We’d come to The Chesham Arms for some more bevs, then maybe if we’re feeling very adventurous, when closing time hits us here, we’ll head over to Hackney Wick. There’s a place called HWK. Sometimes my mates and I DJ (this is real midlife-crisis stuff) at a place called All My Friends. We DJ’d there last Friday. I like to leave just before it finishes, so I'll get another mate to play the last 45 minutes, so I can sneak out. My nightlife has been impacted by having to get up at five every day to do breakfast radio, which is why I'm more into the boozy lunches now.

If you were the Mayor of Hackney, what would you do?

Well, it is mad how expensive things are becoming around here – there's one pub, the Hare, where you can still get a pint for £4 – so I would give everyone a third off drinks. I'd also improve the bloody roads. I ride a Vesper now, and the potholes are bad. I would also give away the retail units in Hackney Fashion Village for free, because there used to be a row of outlet stores on Morning Lane, and they're all boarded up now. It's amazing how many things are closing. As people start going out less and money's tight for everyone, more places are shutting down. I think they need to give away more free commercial space in Hackney, because otherwise we're going to start losing a lot of the places people can physically go. There are so many good entrepreneurs and small businesses in Hackney. I work a lot with a charity called Arts For All, and they've been having so many problems with their rent going up and up every year. They should be getting rent-free space too. So, overall, I would give away space.

Is there a local celebrity that comes to mind when you think of Hackney?

There's a guy who walks his dog, and I see him all the time. He walks his dog miles – I've seen him walking it through the City by Bank. He's got what must be some kind of doberman cross. It's a big dog with a big chest, and it's never on the lead. It is the most chilled dog you've ever seen. They walk slowly, and he just cruises around smoking a cigar, nodding at everyone. I see him all the time, and I have to take my stupid yappy little dog the other way, because my dog will bark at his dog. His dog is doing nothing wrong. In fact, everything's right with the world when I see him cruising around Hackney.

Best dinner spot?

Brawn down in Shoreditch is an amazing place for a special occasion. But this is the other slight problem around here. Sometimes you just want average food – comfort food, like pizza or pasta, that’s cheap but vibey, and made with love. You can go there any night of the week, and you know it's going to be a nice atmosphere. One by one, those sorts of places are closing. But there is a hipster bakery called Pophams that at night becomes a pasta place. And I swear it is the best pasta I’ve ever eaten.

Introduce us to a hidden gem…

There's a really good bar called Behind This Wall on Mayor Street, which you wouldn't know is there. It's just got like a little sign outside that says ‘Bar’. They've got an amazing sound system and are always playing amazing music. I feel like not enough people know about that.

And if you had to cheat on Hackney with another London neighbourhood…

I have to say, I am eyeing up Peckham and Nunhead, and I'm showing a bit of leg to Telegraph Hill. Round here, if we wanted a four-bedroom house with a garden, it’s £2m and you’d probably need to spend some money on it. So, we're flirting with that part of London. Telegraph Hill feels like Hackney's twin, but maybe Hackney of a few years ago, so it would extend my permanent midlife crisis.

My nightlife has been impacted by having to get up at five every day to do breakfast radio, which is why I'm more into the boozy lunches now.

How's the breakfast show going?

It's good fun. We have loads of amazing guests. We get to interview big Hollywood names, big people in music. I do it with Fleur East and James Bar. They're already like family, so it's fun. It doesn't feel like work, and I've only been doing it for a couple of months. And then I have my business outside of TV. Bloody Marys in cans. One thing I'm bad at with my brand is selling on my doorstep. We're in quite a few pubs and restaurants in central London, and we're in supermarkets, but I never take samples around to pubs or bars near where I live, so Hackney is like a dead zone for my product. I need to work on that. It’s another thing I could give away in Hackney for free!

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Photography: Victoria Adamson

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