The Grill Room at the Cafe Royal in Regent Street

This is just north of Piccadilly Circus and is, according to the late Cecil Beaton, the most beautiful dining room in London. Unfortunately the famous Brasserie has now closed and a new owner has converted it into a "Cheers" bar. However, the Grill Room is still in business. With gilt edged mirrors, crystal and red velvet, it conjures up the Edwardian elegance with a French touch. Sir Herbert Tree once commented, "If you want to see English people at their most English, go to the Cafe Royal where they are trying their hardest to be French".

It was in the Brasserie that poets, painters, wits and eccentrics gathered. Here Oscar Wilde held court night after night arguing into the small hours with, among others, Aubrey Beardsley, Frank Harris and Bernard Shaw. In November 1922, the somewhat startling announcement was made that the Cafe Royal was to be pulled down and rebuilt. "They might as well have told us," wrote Y W H Crossland, "that the British Empire is to be pulled down and redecorated." Charles Forte bought the Cafe Royal in 1954 and refurbished and extended it into the eight-storey conference and banqueting facility that stands in Regent Street today. The Grill Room is a "must".

Next: Ordering information

Hosted by www.Geocities.ws

Taken from:

From Shakespeare to Coward

From The Globe to The Phoenix Theatre A Guide to Historic Theatrical London and the World Beyond by Elizabeth Sharland

The Grill Room at the Cafe Royal in Regent Street

From The Globe to The Phoenix Theatre
A Guide to Historic Theatrical London and the World Beyond
by Elizabeth Sharland