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
• LAST ORRS AT THE GAY HSAR – THE LEFT’S HOTBED OF PLOTS, GOSSIP AND GOULASH
• THE GAY HSAR
• THE GAY HSAR, 2 GREEK STREET, LONDON W1
• THE GAY HSAR - LONDON
• THE GAY HSAR
• NOBLE ROT SOHO SE THE NOBLE ROT TEAM TAKE OVER THE GAY HSAR FOR THEIR SEND RTRANT
• THE GAY HSARS

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.

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

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. 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, one of London’s olst rtrant stutns — a venue popular among policians and polil satirists — closed last Thursday night. But perhaps the Gay Hsar’s most famo tale — at least recent history — is the one which stat that was there that a young Laboure lled Tony Blair was persuad to n for parliament 1982.

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.

THE GAY HSAR

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.

THE GAY HSAR, 2 GREEK STREET, LONDON W1

Noble Rot Soho will take over the se vated by the poli’s favoure Hungarian rtrant Gay Hsar, on Greek Street, Sprg 2020. The menu, om chef Pl Weaver wh, as before, The Sportsman’s Stephen Harris, will clu subtle referenc to The Gay Hsar’s glory days. The Gay Hsar, a rtrant created by the late Swiss-Welsh rtratr, Victor Sassie, closed, after 65 years, the summer of 2018.

THE GAY HSAR - LONDON

A menu om former Sarde chef-owner Alex Jackson pays tribute to Greek Street legend The Gay Hsar, which the Bloomsbury we bar-rtrant has taken over.

Alex Jackson, most recently head chef of the also quietly excellent Sarde, off Cy Road, will oversee a menu signed to react the history of former occupier the Gay Hsar through the French untry okg for which he is bt known. Jackson lls the rtrant a proper “old dame of Soho, ” and tends to work a uple of dish om former Gay Hsar men — “ltle flourish” which reprent Hungarian parallels wh the untry okg of France. While he is sangue about the parallels, he is watchful wh his plans for a daily goulash: “The Goulash Appreciatn Society [Gay Hsar regulars better known as The Goulash Collective] actually got touch wh Dan and Mark (Keelg and Andrew, founrs of Noble Rot) when they took over the se and jt said: ‘let’s talk.

THE GAY HSAR

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. 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.

NOBLE ROT SOHO SE THE NOBLE ROT TEAM TAKE OVER THE GAY HSAR FOR THEIR SEND RTRANT

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. The average ratg for The Gay Hsar is 4. I didn't know what to expect om Gay Hsar when we me, but we arrived to discs our book club book about Hungarian immigrants the UK, so seemed.

THE GAY HSARS

Noble Rot Soho is set the former se of the Gay Hsar on Greek St, once notor as the lair of many left-wg policians. It clus subtle referenc to The Gay Hsar’s past and the most life-enhancg roast chicken wh morels and v jne sce to be found this si of France’s Jura. :-)UUp4foodLondonDed on 4 May 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. :)CSCarlySLondonDed on 9 March 2018overall5food5service5ambience5My parents have been wantg to e to The Gay Hsar sce theyoved to London 6 months ago. RreluctantreviewerOxfordDed on 24 Febary 2018overall4food4service5ambience3Yet another very enjoyable lunch enunter wh the Gay Hsar.