The Golden Heart

The Golden Heart is a boisterous but good-natured ship skippered by the legendary Sandra Esquilant, the firm but fair landlady who is a mother confessor & all-round-pal to a generation of creative talent – everyone from Gilbert & George & Tracey Emin (it’s her fave pub) to the Kate Moss coterie, Amy Winehouse & future front-page fixtures. The Heart’s splendid wood-panelled interior, split into public bar & wine bar, survives intact, with a liberal sprinkling of kitsch applied. There’s a blazing fire & a retro jukebox as well as Grolsch & Adnams Bitter on draught, & reasonably priced clarets & Burgundy. ‘Stand Still And Rot’ warns a neon sign, though there’s not much chance of that from Spitalfields’ movers & shakers.