{"id":768324,"date":"2026-09-12T12:28:25","date_gmt":"2026-09-12T12:28:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/768324\/"},"modified":"2026-09-12T12:28:25","modified_gmt":"2026-09-12T12:28:25","slug":"my-london-vinnie-jones-stays-at-the-goring-dines-at-scalini-and-misses-the-glory-days-at-langans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/768324\/","title":{"rendered":"My London: Vinnie Jones stays at the Goring, dines at Scalini and misses the glory days at Langan\u2019s"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"STYLE\"<\/p>\n

Well, I haven\u2019t lived there for years, but I still think of Watford as home. It\u2019s where I was born and bred. It\u2019s changed a lot, but I still go to home games and see familiar faces. <\/p>\n

You live in West Sussex now. Where do you stay in London?<\/p>\n

I like the Goring, it\u2019s so comfortable and I can get out and about. It\u2019s really traditional and English and the service is superb. Harry Goring actually lives near me \u2014 on the Wiston Estate. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Emma Ford and Vinnie Jones attend the Netflix World Premiere of “The Gentleman” season 2 at Guildhall<\/p>\n

Getty<\/p>\n

Have you ever lived in town? <\/p>\n

I bought a flat when I played for Chelsea. It was round the back of the ground near where the old all-weather pitch used to be. I hardly stayed there. I bought it with another geezer, a rugby player, but I would usually go back to Watford to the pub. <\/p>\n

Where do you like to go on dates?<\/p>\n

I used to go to the Dover Street wine bar in Mayfair. Everybody must have thought I had shares in it; I was there so much. I felt really welcome. With bars and restaurants, I like it when I get to know people. That\u2019s when I keep going back. I\u2019m a creature of habit. When I get looked after, have a table and get to know the staff, it\u2019s really important. I feel comfortable and so long as there\u2019s good grub, I\u2019m happy. <\/p>\n

Any one restaurant you like? <\/p>\n

We used to go to Langan\u2019s<\/a>. I went with Guy Ritchie and Matthew Vaughn. I\u2019d usually be the one paying as I was still playing then and the only one with any money. The boys would come to games and then we\u2019d all go out. Langan\u2019s is different now, obviously. They were the glory days, back when Michael Caine was knocking around there. He gave me a big hug one night and congratulated me on Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. I\u2019ll never forget that. He stopped by the table and said, \u201cVinnie, Vinnie, come here mate.\u201d He told me I had terrific screen presence. Bob Hoskins said the same, funnily enough. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

(Left to right) Vinnie Jones, Ray Winstone, Guy Ritchie and Kaya Scodelario attend the premiere for season two of The Gentlemen, at the Guildhall Art Gallery<\/p>\n

PA<\/p>\n

Where\u2019s the best meal you\u2019ve had?<\/p>\n

I\u2019d have to say Scalini<\/a>. I\u2019ve been going there for many years. A mate had his birthday there not so long ago, so we had about 10, 15 tables booked out. I\u2019m a big lover of Italian food. <\/p>\n

I would lift the speed limit. I\u2019d abolish it<\/p>\n

Food aside, what would you do if you were Mayor for a day? <\/p>\n

I can\u2019t say what I wanna say. <\/p>\n

No, I can\u2019t. But the biggest policy change I\u2019d make is I would lift the speed limit. I\u2019d abolish it. And I\u2019d get the current mayor, what\u2019s his name, and I\u2019d make him drive around for three days doing 10 miles per hour. Everybody would be whizzing past him. <\/p>\n

Who\u2019s the most iconic Londoner? <\/p>\n

There are so many. I\u2019m a massive Winston Churchill fan \u2014 I\u2019ve got a huge tattoo of him on my back. And then I\u2019d say the Kray twins and Michael Caine. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Giancarlo Esposito, Joely Richardson, Ray Winstone, Theo James, Kaya Scodelario, Jasmine Blackborow and Vinnie Jones attend “The Gentlemen” Season Two World Premiere at The Guildhall<\/p>\n

Getty<\/p>\n

Have you ever had a run-in with a police officer? <\/p>\n

I was with (former Chelsea footballer) David Speedie once. I had a white BMW 325 at the time, I must have been about 20. We were driving down the King\u2019s Road and we hoiked him out on to the top and he was surfing on the car. And then the Old Bill pulled us over. They said, \u201cLads, you can\u2019t be doing this.\u201d But they saw the funny side. We were all laughing.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the best thing a cabbie has said to you? <\/p>\n

London cabbies always say fantastic things to me. I love getting in a cab. I always over-tip. One of the main things I look forward to when here is jumping in a cab and whizzing round. <\/p>\n

What\u2019s your biggest extravagance? <\/p>\n

I just bought this old trailer from America and I\u2019ve completely renovated it. It\u2019s an Airstream, but one of the old ones, beautiful sleek metal. It\u2019s like the Holy Grail. And I\u2019ve done up my Land Rover. I just got balls deep in it. Twenty grand here, thirty grand there. <\/p>\n

Guns. Berettas mostly. I\u2019ve got about 40. I do all kinds of shooting. Sometimes I go out and shoot a couple of clays.<\/p>\n

If you ever fancy a night out, who do you call and where do you go? <\/p>\n

The last time I went to Isabel Mayfair. Downstairs. I took Blondie (partner Emma Ford) and it was quite nice. It was quite low-key. I\u2019m a bit more pipe and slippers these days. It used to be different. <\/p>\n

Have you got a favourite piece of art? <\/p>\n

I just bought a piece from Jake Wood, of EastEnders fame. He did me one of Churchill with a machine gun. He\u2019s a good artist. Ronnie Wood gave me a piece years ago, too. But I mainly collect wildlife stuff. Pieces of the British countryside \u2014 often game birds and birds of prey.<\/p>\n

The Gentlemen season two is out now on Netflix<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Well, I haven\u2019t lived there for years, but I still think of Watford as home. It\u2019s where I…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":768325,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[6491,96,143167,253664,56,54,55,147139],"class_list":["post-768324","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment","tag-my-london","tag-the-goring","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom","tag-vinnie-jones"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/768324","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=768324"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/768324\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/768325"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=768324"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=768324"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=768324"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}