RESTAURANTS, CLOSED

The Calabash

The Calabash in The Africa Centre was London s first African restaurant.

Carrier's

In 1966 Robert Carrier (n McMahon) (1923-2003), a London-based American public relations executive turned food writer, opened Carrier's, a restaurant in Islington's Camden Passage. He published a series of cookbooks that had a major impact on British cuisine. Great Dishes of The World (1963) and The Robert Carrier Cookbook (1970) sold millions of copies. In 1972 he acquired Hintlesham Hall, a country house in Suffolk, where he had three restaurants and later a cookery school. In 1982 he sold the Hall and in 1984 closed the Camden Passage restaurant.

Location: 2-4 Camden Passage, N1 8DY (orange, red)

Foxtrot Oscar

In 1980 Michael Proudlock (1948-2018), an amicable Old Etonian cloth salesman, opened Foxtrot Oscar with the brothers Wickes and Rex Leyland, who were established restauranteurs. Its clientele was extremely well-heeled, the food unremarkable, and the atmosphere informal in a way that was unprecedented. In 2007 he sold the business to Michael Ramsay.

Le Gavroche

Le Gavroche closed in 2024. It had been open for 56 years.

The Gay Hussar

The Gay Hussar was a Hungarian-style restaurant. The business was founded in the 1950s by Victor Sassie, who was not a Hungarian. Rather, he was a Lancastrian of Italo-Swiss-Welsh descent, who had trained in some of the great kitchens of mittel Europe.¹

The Gay Hussar s ascent to fame derived from its becoming the favoured restaurant of Tom Driberg, a colourful journalist-cum-politician. His taste for it led to it receiving the patronage first of group of leftwing Labour M.P.s, and then of a broad range of the labour movement. Mr Sassie tended to decide what people should eat rather than subjecting them to the inconvenience of having to decide what they would like. Upon one occasion he ejected George Brown, who was Foreign Secretary at the time, for inappropriate behaviour. In 1988 Mr Sassie retired from the business.

Despite holding opposing political opinions the Labour spindoctor Brian Murphy and the Conservative spindoctor Lord Bell were good friends. If they lunched at The Gay Hussar the former would pick up the bill and if at Claridges then the latter would pay.

Location: 2 Greek Street, W1D 4NB. The building dates from 1680. (purple, blue)

Website: wwwgayhussar.co.uk

¹. Mr Sassie was a native of Barrow-in-Furness, which a town that is different from other towns. It lies at the end of a railway line and was created by the agents of the 7^th Duke of Devonshire to exploit the iron deposits on an estate that his grace owned. In an instance of vertical integration, the duke established the Naval Construction & Armaments Company to build steel warships.

The principal contemporary trade of Barrow is manufacturing submarines. Once these leave the town s dockyards they are equipped with nuclear weapons. They then go and lurk deep in the world s oceans. Should Radio 4 ever fail to broadcast they will fire their charges. (See Also: NUCLEAR WEAPONS)

Isow's

Isow s was not a kosher restaurant, however, its menu included several Jewish dishes. Jack Isow hired the boxer (George) Nosher Powell (1928-2013) to be the establishment s doorman upon one occasion, Mr Powell refused the Kray twins admission. He informed the East End gangsters that they were improperly dressed. The following day the brothers older sib Charlie paid Nosher a visit. He listened to the bouncer s reason and appeared to accept it. For several weeks subsequently, Powell avoided multi-storey car parks and, when walking home at night, he was careful to walk in the centre of the road.

Location: 8-10 Brewer Street, W1F 0SB (purple, blue)

The London Tavern

The London Tavern eating house could cater for over 2000 people at a time. From the outside people, who did not know what it was, tended to assume it was a bank. In its honour the innovative Parisian restauranteur named his restaurant Grande Taverne de Londres.

Neal Street Restaurant

Antonio Carluccio (1937-2017) ran the Neal Street Restaurant from 1981 until its closure in 2007.

Location: 26 Neal Street, WC2H 9QQ (blue, grey)

The Queen's Restaurant

The Labour Prime Minister Clement Attlee was a modest, unassuming man. There is a story that upon one occasion in 1951, while he was premier, he dined with Lord and Lady Pakenham at The Queen s Restaurant off Sloane Square as their guest. When the bill was presented, the peer realised that he had insufficient money upon his person to be able to meet it.

The baron happened to have his cheque book with him and offered to pay the sum by cheque. However, at the time such a way of settling a restaurant bill was highly unusual and the proprietor declined to accept his proposal. This prompted the peer to exclaim But this is the Prime Minister and I am the First Lord of the Admiralty! Eventually, it was negotiated that Lady Pakenham should return to Admiralty House to fetch some money while the two senior Officers of State remained hostage in the establishment to ensure that she came back to it with the cash.

Location: Admiralty House, (32) Whitehall, SW1A 2DY (blue, brown)

The Queen s Restaurant, 4 Sloane Square, SW1W 8EE. A David Mellor shop now occupies the site. (purple, pink)

See Also: WEST GERMANY S MIDWIFE

The Red Fort

The Red Fort was one of a generation of South Asian restaurants that emerged in London in the mid-1980s that took the cuisine an upmarket context in Britain. It closed in 2018

Location: 77 Dean Street, W1D 3SH (red, white)

See Also: SOUTH ASIAN FOOD

The White Elephant

The Ward Room was a restaurant that had become moribund. The facility was acquired by the theatrical agent Leslie Linder (1924-2010), Stella Richmond, and the screenwriter Wolf Mankowitz (1924-1998). They re-opened it as The White Elephant. For the following three decades it was where Hollywood stars who were visiting London would dine.

Location: 28 Curzon Street, W1J 7TJ (blue, purple)

David Backhouse 2024