he Wolseley sits handsomely on Piccadilly, a stone’s throw from The Ritz. Behind its baroque ironwork entrance is a grand café of a type long familiar to residents of Paris and Vienna, yet rare in London. The interior is inspired by the columns and round arches of the Basilica Santo Spirito in Florence, but dressed with black-and-gold Japanese lacquer. A cosmopolitan space, it’s the jewel in the crown of the city’s pre-eminent restaurateurs, Chris Corbin and Jeremy King.
It’s natural to feel a pang of nostalgia for the well-appointed world of a few months ago. The crisis has shown us how precarious that era was King is a shy man who taught himself to be an extrovert. He spent much of his childhood in the Somerset town of Burnham-on-Sea. In his teens he was a bartender’s assistant at a local holiday village and also manned the ice-cream counter at the Seaspray Café on the high street. Both experiences forced him to be more outgoing. Eventually he would become the archetypal restaurant “greeter”.
King has a taste for the Mitteleuropean. When talking about Viennese institutions such as Café Central and Zum Schwarzen Kameel, he becomes fervent. “There’s a buzz and a glow and a sense of warmth and belonging,” he says.
The restaurants manage to be elegant and glamorous without being inaccessible. It’s a feat of alchemy born of a relationship that began in 1979. King was working as maître d’ at Joe Allen, a restaurant in Covent Garden with the atmosphere of a speakeasy, and got to know Chris Corbin, who at 27 was two years his senior. Corbin had also stumbled into the business.
Corbin soon became manager of Langan’s. But he quickly started hatching plans with King to set up their own place. So began the long process of working out exactly what made them happy and how to turn it into a business. Their first venture was Le Caprice, in 1981. They were backed by the fashion designer Joseph Ettedgui, but within weeks it became clear that their ideas were at odds: Ettedgui was intent on having harsh monochrome decor and fluorescent lights.
In 1981 Britain was known for its dismal cuisine and limited range of restaurants. Pasta was still seen as exotic and the country was in recession. But after deregulation boosted London’s status as a financial centre, it took off as a glossy global city and culinary playground for an increasingly aspirational and diverse population. Over the past 40 years the capital has remained Corbin and King’s heartland, as they have catered to trendsetters, gourmets and budget-conscious foodies.
1843mag Restaurants would be back with a bang.Why? (1/2)They aren’t just places to eat food.Restaurants means the social need to eat, as a herd almost.Restaurants function as sites of social exchange.See dining as theatre, a minutely choreographed performance.
1843mag So, it’s about love. Defo feel for people who love restaurants, which isn’t me, but I can empathise. I think Americans are supposed to eat canned beans tho.
1843mag El nuevo orden mundial
1843mag Restaurants didn’t disappear after the Spanish Flue. They will eventually come back. But we’ll have lots of damage for now.
1843mag Not to worry, O Grand Protector of the Empire and the Real English lanuage: the Roaring Twenties will grace us once again.
1843mag If the world doesn't get this virus under control, we are going to be like the dinosaurs: First you see them and then you don't! Why? COVID-19 killed billions & starved the rest.
1843mag thanks to my uncles rothchild
1843mag Resturants will survive..just more passionate....
1843mag Let’s celebrate change ... instead of this... the world needs to change ..sorry it takes such extreme measures
1843mag The Economist for the people
1843mag We could learn from other countries and open safely 🙏
1843mag اعدام_نکنید StopExecutionsInIran
1843mag Government leadership!
1843mag
1843mag Intelligent governance
1843mag Perhaps just a Pavlovian work re-enforcement treat😎
1843mag Never the same again? Never? What is it with these editorials claiming nothing will ever be the same! End of business travel, end of tourism. Really? It may take a year or so but who knows the future
1843mag To be served with a smile,waited on One felt important n that has element of luxury
1843mag We are well aware that after the 1918 epidemic no one ever ate in a restaurant again. Let’s not get carried away here. We’re going to go through a rough time but eventually life will return to something more familiar.
1843mag Listening to gypsy jazz while sipping coffee in a Parisian café. Sigh 😔
1843mag There will be a new normal for the next couple of years. The most important duty of any president is to keep citizens safe. trump has failed miserably.
marioricciard18 1843mag What are you talking about? Never? Are you for real?
1843mag The service, variety of food & no clean up.
1843mag Checks the box of a lot of socio-economic needs - probably why they’ve been around in one form or another for 1000’s of years. A tiny pandemic won’t end it.
1843mag Not having to clean the kitchen after dinner.
1843mag Every thing will get back to normal
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