The Gourmet's Guide to LondonNewnham-Davis, Lieut.-Col. (Nathaniel)
General
The Gourmet's Guide to London
Newnham-Davis, Lieut.-Col. (Nathaniel)
Restaurants -- England -- London -- Guidebooks
Behind the bar, a bar which was always full of racing men, journalists,
coaching men, men from the Stock Exchange, men about town--for those
were the days when no man in the movement thought it undignified to be
seen standing up in a place of refreshment--was the restaurant. It was
little more than a corridor, a long, narrow room with space for one
line of tables only; but at those tables used habitually to sit the
merriest gathering of good fellows, and I include the ladies in that
term, that ever came together in a London restaurant. There were witty
journalists such as Shirley Brooks, "Pot" Stephens, "Jimmy" Davis,
and "Shifter," and there were men of the theatre--Cecil Raleigh, for
instance, and "Charlie" Harris, who when the waiter called the order
for his dinner down the speaking-tube always added himself "pour le
patron," for Romano, who lunched and dined at the table nearest the
bar door, was not likely to get a tough steak or a thin quail. There
were Guardsmen, such at "The Windsor Warrior," "Billie FitzDitto,"
"Haddocks," and "The Bonetwister," and men about town, of whom Hughie
Drummond and Fred Russell were perhaps the best known, and coaching
men, "Dickie the Driver" and "Swish" and "Partner," who used to
delight in bringing jolly old Jim Selby to dine; and Arthur Roberts,
then at the very top of his form, and "Mons" Marius, as representatives
of the actor fraternity. And around this kernel of good-fellowship
formed a fringe of other good fellows who came and went, men from
the country, men from the far parts of the world, soldiers, sailors,
planters, explorers, country squires. It was rather a clannish
gathering, for everybody seemed to know everybody else at the line of
tables, and people who were not taken into companionship, no difficult
matter if they were kindred souls, felt "out of it," and went elsewhere.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account