La meccanica dell'arte / The mechanics of art

Craig O'Dwyer's Scooterworks Cafè in London (just behind Waterloo tube station).

Se avete in programma un viaggio a Londra, seguite il consiglio di Sara e andate a bere un caffè o un bicchiere di vino da Scooterworks. E' uno di quei posti che solo quelli che stanno a Londra da un po' conoscono. Per saperne di più leggete su Inutile il suo articolo in cui racconta l'appassionante storia di Craig O'Dwyer per come l'ha capita lei. Sara era un po' distratta mentre lo stava ad ascoltare... in calce la traduzione (più o meno) in inglese.

If you're planning a trip to London, follow Sara's advice and have a coffee or a glass of wine at Scooterworks. It's one of those places that only those who are in London for a while can know. To discover more about it read on Inutile her article (italian version) in which she tells us Craig O'Dwyer's incredible story, at least what she understood about it. Sara was a little bit distracted while she was listening to him... at the bottom a translation (more or less) in English.

An original Wham-o frisbee from the sixties (photo by MollyFinds).

I don't think that his beautiful wife will have something to object if I start this article by saying that Craig O'Dwyer is gorgeous and really cool. It's not the most important thing to tell about him, but it's part of his charm, as well as his fantastic mustache.

I met him, thanks to a series of strange coincidences, in a nudist beach in the middle of nowhere in Croatia. He was lying in the sun and one of his friends as a joke put an original Wham-o Pluto Platter from the 60s on his butt. Unfortunately I don't have a picture of him in that pose, but as a real maniac I keep that image printed in my memory.

Craig's Scooterworks, where he fixes Vespas (photo by vespamore photography).

All what concerns Craig has a vintage, but genuine, look; he himself seems a man of the '50s, broad shoulders, narrow waist, skinny legs and firm buttocks (and let me state these things once and for all: men, stop thinking that you can go around shirtless without creating some havoc in your girl friends. Though they are not interested, your nakedness may create an involuntary response in ladies, just like the nakedness of the female body is capable of induce excitement in straight oriented boys). Trying to show interest only for the frisbee I started talking with him and I discovered that Craig is from New Zealand and that he arrived in the UK twenty years ago without a penny. But he had a talent inherited from his training as aircraft mechanic (fuck!): he knows how to repair almost anything.

Scooterworks cafè, inside (photo by youngandfoodish.com).

One day he bought a Vespa for a really cheap price, it was his first Vespa ever, and he fixed it so well that, when he found himself again penniless, he tried to sell it and he discovered that the nostalgic Londoners mods, and not only them, were willing to pay crazy amounts for a Vespa or a Lambretta arranged with so much skill and philological respect in the assembly of spare parts.
This could be the solution to his money problems, and he decided to open a small workshop. In those days he spent half of the time travelling around Italy with his van to retrieve the largest amount of Vespas at the lowest possible price and the other half of the time in London to fix them. The workshop grew quickly and Craig was forced to move to a bigger place. He decided to dedicate room also to set up a little bar that had the same remote Fellini's Romagna villages style from the '50s and '60s of his workshop. So his customers could drink a good cup of espresso while they were waiting for their Vespas to be repaired.

Scooterworks cafè, inside (photo by pennybloodsblackbook.com).

So Craig realized that in proportion he was earning more money selling cappuccinos rather than fixing Vespas.

Now it continues to fix Vespas as a hobby, but he runs two bars along with his wife.  The first is called exactly like his old workshop, Scooterworks, and it is located near the Waterloo Tube Station, the other it's called Cable Cafè, it's located in Brixton Road and has a more '40s look. In both these places I assure you'll find an unique atmosphere: nice music, nice people, good coffee. It becomes easy to make friends! They are also ideal for a romantic date, the lights are dimmed and the tables are small, so it's easy to touch each other "accidentally". Automatically when you enter in Scooterworks you leave outside the assholes careerist artsy mask (which, however, is probably the reason why you are in London) and you become a better person rediscovering the pleasure of meeting people by chance and not on Facebook, even if you live in a big city. It's seems natural also to try to get a date with one of the bartenders: they are all goodlooking and brilliant. But be careful: the coolest one is Craig's wife!

Bobatina, Scooterworks' resident cat (photo by blogesteix-chandeliers.blogspot.com).

Contacts:Scooterworks
67-68 Enid Street, London, SE16 3RA
From Monday to Friday 9 am to 6 pm
Saturday 9 am to 2 am
020 72377223

info@scooterworks-uk.com

http://www.scooterworks-uk.com 

Scooterworks applies the policy BYOF (Bring Your Own Food): in short, you can bring your take away pizza from the bakery on the corner or the thai dinner and order at Scootherworks only the beverages, as in Bologna, at Osteria del Sole in vicolo dei Ranocchi. Just bring back home all the trash.
Oh, I forgot, Scooterworks has a resident cat, Bobatina.

Cable Cafè

 8 Brixton Road, London, SW9 6BU

 8:30 am to 23:00 pm 

020 86179629

Cable Cafè in Brixton Road, London (photo by pennybloodsblackbook.com).