Last orrs at the Gay Hsar – the left’s hotbed of plots, gossip and goulash | Rtrants | The Guardian

Contents:

• GAY HSAR RTRANT DCH OLD-TIME SPICY GOSSIP FOR MORN SOHO VIBE
• THE LEGENDARY GAY HSAR RTRANT GETS A MAKEOVER
• LAST ORRS AT THE GAY HSAR – THE LEFT’S HOTBED OF PLOTS, GOSSIP AND GOULASH
• GAY HSAR ART: GRAN WHO STCK A POSE FOR A EE LUNCH
• THE GAY HSAR
• LONDON’S GAY HSAR REOPENS AFTER TWO YEARS UNR A NEW NAME
• THE GAY HSAR, 2 GREEK STREET, LONDON W1
• THE GAY HSARS
• THE GAY HSAR: THE STORY OF THE MOST FAMO HUNGARIAN RTRANT ABROAD

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

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.

THE LEGENDARY GAY HSAR RTRANT GETS A MAKEOVER

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. The Gay Hsar is among the most celebrated rtrants London but s fame rts not so much on the qualy of s chilled wild-cherry soup and s goulash, but on s reputatn as the beatg heart of polil Hungarian rtrant the centre of Soho has played host to generatns of policians, many drawn om the left, cludg Anr Bevan, Michael Foot, Tom Driberg, Ian Mikardo and Barbara Castle.

“We believe now is the time to create a new Gay Hsar, and are talks wh possible partners who agree wh that this unique tablishment mt be saved, ” said the Goulash Co-operative’s spokman John Goodman. ”Sce 1953 the Gay Hsar has played host to generatns of policians, cludg Peter Manlson.

LAST ORRS AT THE GAY HSAR – THE LEFT’S HOTBED OF PLOTS, GOSSIP AND GOULASH

Sassie, who died 1999, sold the Gay Hsar to the Rtrant Partnership more than six s the tradnal r of the open-plan ground-floor rtrant and two crimson-hued private rooms – nnected by a narrow stairse – has barely changed, wh every space and surface stuffed wh books, ritur and pictur. Supporters of the Gay Hsar have already raised a large sum wh big and small donatns.

”The Gay Hsar’s general manager John Wrobel, who has led the roost there for more than 25 years, said: “This is the end of an era and a big shock for me personally. For nearly two s a seri of irreverent polil rtoons graced an entire wall of the celebrated Gay Hsar rtrant London’s Soho – a snapshot of Wtmster life that lighted tourists and regulars Michael Foot’s distctive whe trs to a glowerg Alastair Campbell, the 63 ritur of leadg polil figur drawn over lunch are now to be shared wh a wir dience, thanks to a jot gift to the Natnal Portra Gallery by their creator Mart Rowson and Cos Hotels, which ran the Soho tablishment until s closure June 2018.

A new rtrant opened on the se September at the Gay Hsar 2007. ”For 65 years - sce openg 1953 until s closure 2018 – the Gay Hsar played host to generatns of policians, wrers and artists wh a Hungarian-style meaty menu that barely Gay Hsar Soho, London.

GAY HSAR ART: GRAN WHO STCK A POSE FOR A EE LUNCH

“The Gay Hsar drawgs follow the tradn of satiril riture portras of polics and social life tablished by artists such as Jam Gillray, who has over 800 works the llectn, ” he said. :-)UUp4foodLondonDed on May 4, 2018overall5food5service5ambience5Had another lovely meal at the Gay Hsar, great fun - the owner is such a character and all the food and we was lovely.

I have been gog to Gay Hsar regularly sce at least the 1980s, possibly longer, I'm too old to remember.

:)CSCarlySDed on March 9, 2018overall5food5service5ambience5My parents have been wantg to e to The Gay Hsar sce theyoved to London 6 months ago. RreluctantreviewerOxfordDed on Febary 24, 2018overall4food4service5ambience3Yet another very enjoyable lunch enunter wh the Gay Hsar.

THE GAY HSAR

WwellfordNew York AreavipDed on November 17, 2017overall5food5service5ambience5very welg host wh a menu and food that is well prepared and do not disappotLLucyLondonDed on November 10, 2017overall5food5service5ambience5Super iendly service and fun atmosphere, lovely for a group celebratnKKath61LondonvipDed on November 4, 2017overall5food5service5ambience4Another fab meal at The Gay Hsar.

The Gay Hsar is a very iendly, small, warm and welg rtrant the heart of Soho wh fantastic food. 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.

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

At the time, gay meant happy and cheerful. Gay Hsar was closed 2018.

Sign up to IndyEat's ee newsletter for weekly recip, foodie featur and okbook releasGet our Now Hear This email for eeIf I was nng BBC4, I'd missn a documentary about The Gay Hsar. Ever sce opened 1953, the fate of The Gay Hsar has been timately bound up wh that of Bra's tellectual class, peakg 1980 wh the electn of the late Michael Foot as Labour rtrant was opened by the son of a ship owner, Victor Sassie, who was sent to Budapt 1932 by the Brish Hotel and Rtrant Associatn; after trag unr Károly Gunl, a culary legend Hungary, he returned to London to open his first rtrant, Budapt on Dean Street. Durg the war, he served wh Brish telligence Hungary, then opened a send Budapt on Frh Street before fally unveilg The Gay immediately attracted the patronage of several publishers the area, cludg Jonathan Cape and Rupert Hart-Davis, and wasn't long before uld name TS Ellt among s regulars.

They were the high-livg, sed branch of the Party – not so much champagne socialists as Tokay Gay Hsar's fame peaked the early 1970s when The Daily Mail got hold of a bill emisg jt how lavishly a Soviet legatn had been entertaed by the Unn of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers.

THE GAY HSAR, 2 GREEK STREET, LONDON W1

95 bottle of Chablis, seems a ltle steep for Eastern European fort the mid-1980s, when I was a thstg young journalist, I ed to lunch at The Gay Hsar que often and I remember the food beg a lot better than this. As a general le, the more discrimate a person is their mment to socialist dogma, the more discerng their doubt The Gay Hsar will soldier on. 11/20Sr: 1-9 stay home and ok, 10-11 needs help, 12 ok, 13 pleasant enough, 14 good, 15 very good, 16 pable of greatns, 17 special, n't wa to go back, 18 highly honourable, 19 unique and memorable, 20 as good as getsThe Gay Hsar 2 Greek Street, London W1, tel: 020 7437 0973 Lunch and dner, Monday to Saturday.

So when one goulash-staed story ends, this se that of the Gay Hsar—the legendary left-wg hangout where Hungarian food was served whout gto, and polics was discsed wh plenty of plonk on the si—’s only natural that another big name should take s place.

But wh the help of Alex Jackson, prevly of Sarde, there’s also some honourg of the Gay Hsar’s Hungarian herage gog on. Learn about this topic the articl:discsed bgraphy In Emmerich Kálmán…first stage work, Tatárjárás (1908; The Gay Hsars). The strongly Hungarian tone of this piece succeed wng over Vienne dienc, and The Gay Hsars was performed throughout Europe and the Uned More.

THE GAY HSARS

The Gay Hsar via Carcharoth / Wikipedia mons. But for many years, even s, one of the hottt eateri one of the world’s most smopolan c, was Gay Hsar was opened London the 1950s. This would transform to the Gay Hsar, which like so many Budapt ffee ho, beme popular wh wrers and artists, not to mentn left-wg policians who went there to tra gossip and make off-the-rerd als (so many that their circle was dubbed the ‘Tokay Trots’).

via Gay Hsar Facebook page.

But as other, ls fatteng, and more eclectic cuis rose to promence, and long boozy lunch beme looked down on, the Gay Hsar fell out of fashn, and was set to close 2018.

THE GAY HSAR: THE STORY OF THE MOST FAMO HUNGARIAN RTRANT ABROAD