Eastbourne cafe owner to celebrate 90th birthday - and he has no plans to retire yet!

Robert Baker has owned Cafe Aroma, in Old Town, with his partner Brian Begent for about 18 years.

On March 18, Robert will be celebrating his 90th birthday. Ahead of the big day, he’s shared his secret to a long and healthy life – which he partly attributes to not retiring yet.

“Quite frankly, I think people retire far too early, and this is what the problem is with a lot of people that possibly get dementia,” he said,

"They retire too early, and they don’t have a good diet.

“You’d be surprised how many people don’t eat vegetables, don’t eat meat, don’t eat fish, don’t like this, don’t like that, don’t like something else. I think that’s the mainstay.

“All my life, I’ve had good quality food.”

Before getting into the hospitality business, Robert was a photographer – his career spanning 15-years throughout the 60s and 70s.

During this time, Robert photographed many big names such as Princess Margaret, Jimi Hendrix and The Who.

He also worked at Sotheby's and is ‘very interested in antiques’.

Having grown tired and seeking a change of profession, Robert and Brian decided to ‘see how we get on’ running a cafe on Hastings Pier.

Robert said: “I met Brian and we got along very well together.

“I found out he was a chef, and he wasn’t very happy with his job, he was getting a bit tired of it.

“I said let’s try one year on Hastings Pier and see how we get on.

"All of a sudden, we heard that the pier was under threat and we had to get off, and that’s how we arrived here.

"[Cafe Aroma] was quite shabby and run-down when we took it over and we thought ‘this place has got possibilities’.

“Business has picked up tremendously.”

Now, Robert looks after the financial side of the business and also assists with taking orders and making hot drinks. However, he ‘leaves the heavy cooking to Brian’.

Robert said there’s still ‘plenty for me to do’ and will continue running the cafe, while enjoying his garden, antiques and equestrian events.

Cafe Aroma is located at 54 Ocklynge Road.