Café Papillon is a very well known destination for breakfasts, lunches and brunches or just coffee catch-ups on Oxted’s Station Road West. Its welcoming and friendly team are well loved, but you may not know much about its chef and owner, Steve Chamberlain.
Steve has worked as a chef since the 80s, with his apprenticeship years spent in five-star hotels, including The Savoy (where he was runner-up Young Apprentice of the Year), Hotels Lancaster and Meurice in Paris and Hotel Bristol, before returning to the Savoy for another stint and finishing off at The Ritz, before becoming Head Pastry Chef at The Stafford Hotel (London).
He has also worked in Malta and had head chef positions in several other establishments. His culinary accolades include Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the year Award (Runner up), Award of Excellence in pastry from the Académie Culinaire De France, and Gold Medal at the “International Taste of Canada” as a member of the British Team in the Students Culinary Competition.
What you may not know about Steve is that aside from being a brilliant chef, he is also a multi-medal-winning Judo champion and competed internationally for GBR! He earned a Bronze medal at the World Masters Judo Championships 2003 (Japan) and held titles of European Champion, UK Champion, Southern England Champion and Kent Champion throughout the late 1970s and 80s.
So what made him choose Oxted?
On a trip into Oxted one afternoon to pick up his daughter Imogen’s prom dress from the former Personality dress shop, Steve noticed the empty building opposite and with its location right by the station, decided it could be the perfect spot for a cafe. The builders doing up the flat above let him have a little look around, he made enquiries and several months later after extensive refurbishments, Steve launched Cafe Papillon.
“Originally I chose the site because of its location for the business success,” says Steve, “but I’ve always liked the town, its diverse community and a very good range of shops that complement my business and I’ve always had lots of support from local people and businesses alike.”
What’s the significance of the butterfly?
The name Papillon (French for butterfly) hails from the 1980s when Steve was an apprentice chef in Paris, and got a butterfly tattoo after a drunken night out on the town with the other chefs! He always said when he opened his own place, he’d call it Papillon, so the logo is a direct copy of the tattoo!
Café Papillon has lots of regulars and prides itself on the fact that a lot of people come into the cafe by themselves, often because they are widowed, and Steve and his team always remember their names and make a fuss of them, which means they feel they can feel at ease coming in on their own to eat. “They even send us postcards when they go on holiday bring us mementos like fridge magnets!” says Steve.
He believes they are known as a friendly homely place to come and eat or just meet – it’s always a great place for a catch up and convenient right by the car park and station.
What are their most popular dishes?
If you’ve been to Café Papillon, you don’t need us to tell you about their breakfasts! They are legendary, and come in all forms according to your preferences. Steve says that all the dishes have a special meaning and are very popular. He knows his customers and so everything on the menu sells: “Our homemade soup, Chicken, Bacon and Avocado salad and the legendary club sandwich are probably our best sellers aside from our breakfasts. The Full English is very popular and the Salmon and Eggs.”
And being a chef, he cooks everything fresh on site, including homemade soups, steak pies freshly cooked chicken and pasta and a good selection of salads. They have fresh fruit, homemade cakes, daily specials and sell lots of freshly made sandwiches to order for customers to pick up on their way to getting on the train. His croissants and baguettes are also cooked fresh, daily.
Steve is an intrinsic part of the Oxted community and loves running his community focused cafe. “Every day is different experience,” he says. “There’s always somebody with a weird request or special dietary needs, and it’s quite rewarding making sure we please them!”
Of course the last few years during and after covid have been tricky, and the daily challenges of staff retention and ever-increasing cost of supplies is difficult, but the cafe continues to thrive.
Steve hopes that this year they might be able to recruit enough permanent staff to be able to re-start Friday Night Live , Sunday service and bistro evenings, with live music provided by his musical Station Road West neighbours, Idol Hands.
Watch this space!
Café Papillon is open Monday to Saturday 9am – 4pm in the winter and until 5pm in the summer.
Follow them on Facebook and Instagram
