New Italian rtrant the heart of gay Soho | Harn's

Contents:

• GAY BARS AND CLUBS SOHO
• GAY HSAR RTRANT DCH OLD-TIME SPICY GOSSIP FOR MORN SOHO VIBE
• NEW ITALIAN RTRANT THE HEART OF GAY SOHO
• LONDON’S GAY HSAR REOPENS AFTER TWO YEARS UNR A NEW NAME

GAY BARS AND CLUBS SOHO

Goulash is once aga on the menu, but this time bbg shoulrs wh fe French and English-style okg rather than meat-heavy Hungarian classics – and paired wh some of the world’s ft than two years sce the legendary Gay Hsar London closed s doors, a new rtrant is openg on the se on 18 Septembenr new owners and wh a bold, ntemporary style that is more than jt a nod to s precsor’s illtr s heyday the Hungarian rtrant the centre of Soho was a hotbed of polil plottg, backstabbg, al-makg and gossip, when s fame rted not so much on the qualy of s menu – barely changed years – but on s reputatn as the beatg heart of polil openg 1953, the jewel-loured rooms adorned wh thick draped velvet curtas have played host to generatns of policians, many om the left, cludg Anr Bevan, Michael Foot, Tom Driberg, Ian Mikardo and Barbara Castle. The shelv which groaned wh polil tom are now lan wh okery books cludg Esffier’s Le Gui Culaire and guis to the world’s ft first-floor dg room is beg renamed The Rowson Sue to honour the role of polil rtoonist Mart Rowson as an enthiastic supporter of the Gay Hsar and an acerbic and irreverent chronicler of the changg face of Soho and polil famo gallery of 60-pl rtoons of the polil ele’s great and not-so-good – officially “on loan” – were hung wall-to-wall the downstairs dg room for many years, but have been languishg storage sce the rtrant’s closure June, who retas pyright, and prev owner Cos Hotels are unrstood to have recently agreed to donate the llectn to the Natnal Portra Gallery as an “absolute gift” new rtrant will stead display two dramatic new “triptych” patgs by Rowson.

GAY HSAR RTRANT DCH OLD-TIME SPICY GOSSIP FOR MORN SOHO VIBE

On one si Gay Hsar stalwarts Labour lear Michael Foot and Barbara Castle are pictured leavg the rtrant, while the morn-day versn chefs cludg Angela Hartt and Nigella Lawson are shown on Greek Street alongsi Amy Wehoe and, bizarrely, journalist Rod Liddle drag. Wrg about the rtrant’s new rnatn a recent issue of Noble Rot magaze, Guardian lumnist Suzanne Moore said: “I hope the sndals and plottg and affairs and appropriate behavur that characterised the old Gay Hsar will ntue. A new Italian rtrant wh a retro New York theme clarg self “proudly gay-owned” opened the heart of Soho’s ‘gay village’ this week, cidg wh the annual LGBTQ+ Pri celebratns.

NEW ITALIAN RTRANT THE HEART OF GAY SOHO

He said, “Dpe their close proximy, they’re very much their own rtrants wh their own personali – 40 is the olr gay brother who’s been around for a while and knows where the party’s at, while 64 is the ol lbian sister who’s new on the scene but tends to make her prence felt.

LONDON’S GAY HSAR REOPENS AFTER TWO YEARS UNR A NEW NAME

The legendary Gay Hsar rtrant of SoHo, which featured thentic Hungarian dish, closed 2018, 65 years after s openg. Gay Hsar was opened 1953, wh a dark yet charmg terr, and two private rooms, which were the perfect spots for plottg, and the place quickly beme favoured by the lears of the Labour Party, as well as left-wg journalists and tellectuals.

The rtrant was not named after a gay valry soldier, but after Imre Kálmán’s world-famo operetta, tled The Gay Hsars English (Tatárjárás), which premiered Budapt 1908. At the time, gay meant happy and cheerful.

Gay Hsar was closed 2018.