‘We love where we live. We call ourselves

Lucy Mee and Josh Paterson

Jobs: Co-founders of Ink and Bill or Break at Camden Market’s West Yard Ages: Lucy is 29, Josh is 30

Live: Brockley

Length of time together: Eight years Status: Official

The meet-cute

Josh: We were both 18. I was working on the bar at Jamie’s Italian flagship restaurant in Oxford and Lucy came in for an interview. We got chatting while she was waiting and bonded over a mutual love and passion for food. There was lots of flirting during those initial months — we were always out at bars after our shifts. We then had a great time at Bestival together one year and decided to try to make things work while Lucy was at uni in Leeds.

The first date

Josh: I went to stay with Lucy and some friends for a few days in Leeds and that’s when it all unfolded. For our first date we went to the cinema and Lucy asked for milk with ice in it instead of a coffee. I thought it was adorable. I loved her kindness and her love for everyone, though her concentration when she’s driving is quite scary.

First impressions

Lucy: I thought Josh was gorgeous. Personality-wise it was probably a case of opposites attract but we do have the same sense of humour and he was completely my type on paper. I loved his loyalty and the fact that he always knows the answer. My friends thought he was an absolute catch.

Down to business

Lucy: In 2014 we moved to London to set up our businesses: Ink, a fresh fish-and-chips and Szechuan calamari concept, and Bill or Break, a Caesar chicken bar, in Camden Market’s West Yard. We moved in together at the same time. It was really tough at first with minimal funds, which definitely put pressure on our relationship, and it was hard to adapt to each other’s different ways of doing things. But now it’s amazing — we’ve created a really nice home in Brockley, which we love being in. We use it as our office occasionally. We’ve been here for