One of the things people don't seem to tell you about getting older is that people retire
I was told that your skin loses its elasticity at 30
That you hair goes gray or even falls out
But nobody told me that people retire
This is my second time of living in London and have now done this for 25 years
I used to live in a lovely “village” called St. Margarets in the west of London
It had great public transport (train station and buses)
It was a little bit bohemian
And it had a delicatessen / coffee shop / restaurant called “Zoran's” after it's owner
Zoran told me his story
He came over from Montenegro, from the former Yugoslavia
He got a job as a waiter in a post restaurant in London called “Canteen”
One day the head waiter said to him something that changed his life
“You will never get anywhere as a waiter, you need to be in the kitchen”
“But I'm not a trained chef” replied Zoran
Then it struck Zoran like a bolt of lightning
He volunteered to work in the kitchen for nothing
When he wasn't waiting, he worked in the kitchen
It taught him all the recipes he needed to know to open up what was “Zoran's”
It was like a Mayfair restaurant, but in the suburbs
It was also walking distance from the famous Twickenham studios
So as well as ordinary people like me, at the table next to me was Steve Hackett
(He was the guitarist in the rock band Genesis)
I've had many a business meeting there
I also started writing for my first blog there
But Zoran has retried and I will miss him, his energy, his laughter and his food
Best of luck in your retirement Zoran!
