'Goulash -operative' last dch bid to save Soho's Gay Hsar Hungarian rtrant | London Eveng Standard | Eveng Standard

Contents:

• GAY HSAR RTRANT DCH OLD-TIME SPICY GOSSIP FOR MORN SOHO VIBE
• GAY HSAR ART: GRAN WHO STCK A POSE FOR A EE LUNCH
• LONDON’S GAY HSAR REOPENS AFTER TWO YEARS UNR A NEW NAME
• LAST ORRS AT THE GAY HSAR – THE LEFT’S HOTBED OF PLOTS, GOSSIP AND GOULASH
• THE LEGENDARY GAY HSAR RTRANT GETS A MAKEOVER
• INSI NOBLE ROT SOHO, THE NEW "CTODIAN" OF THE GAY HSAR SE AND S HUNGARIAN HERAGE
• THE GAY HSAR, 2 GREEK STREET, LONDON W1
• 'GOULASH -OPERATIVE' LAST DCH BID TO SAVE SOHO'S GAY HSAR HUNGARIAN RTRANT
• LONDON’S LEGENDARY HUNGARIAN RTRANT ‘GAY HSAR’ REOPENS UNR NEW NAME ‘NOBLE ROT’
• LEFTI FORM A -OP TO SAVE GAY HSAR FOR THE NATN
• THE GAY HSAR'S SALE SHOULD TEACH TO E OR LOSE OUR FAVOURE RTRANTS
• GRACE DENT REVIEWS GAY HSAR
• THE GAY HSAR
• 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. 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.

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.

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

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. “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. 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. The legendary Gay Hsar rtrant of SoHo, which featured thentic Hungarian dish, closed 2018, 65 years after s openg.

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

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.

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

Gay Hsar was closed 2018. 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. 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.

THE LEGENDARY GAY HSAR RTRANT GETS A MAKEOVER

Supporters of the Gay Hsar have already raised a large sum wh big and small donatns.

INSI NOBLE ROT SOHO, THE NEW "CTODIAN" OF THE GAY HSAR SE AND S HUNGARIAN HERAGE

”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.

“It don’t feel like prsure, ” adms Dan Keelg, -founr of Noble Rot Bloomsbury, which tomorrow opens s send se  the buildg that hoed the famo – some might say famo – Gay Hsar. The Gay Hsar opened 1953 on Greek Street, the heart of Soho.

THE GAY HSAR, 2 GREEK STREET, LONDON W1

But anyone was wele, and the Gay Hsar was supposedly where Tory ‘Wets’ plotted to overthrow Margaret Thatcher the early 1980s. The Gay Hsar se has been mornised, the ground-floor dg room’s old rpet removed favour of dark floorboards. 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.

'GOULASH -OPERATIVE' LAST DCH BID TO SAVE SOHO'S GAY HSAR HUNGARIAN RTRANT

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.

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.

LONDON’S LEGENDARY HUNGARIAN RTRANT ‘GAY HSAR’ REOPENS UNR NEW NAME ‘NOBLE ROT’

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.

A "goulash -operative" is makg a last dch bid to safeguard the future of Soho's legendary Gay Hsar rtrant this nsortium, which clus the lik of former Labour lear Lord Knock and Tory donor Lord Ashcroft, is biddg for the rtrant when go on sale on Thursday.

LEFTI FORM A -OP TO SAVE GAY HSAR FOR THE NATN

A long-time favoure of left-wg policians and journalists, the Gay Hsar, Greek Street, has been put up for ctn by owners Cos Hotels after seeg profs take a h the the newly formed Goulash Co-operative Ltd, ma up of a group of journalists, policians and lawyers, aims to allow the Hungarian rtrant to rema directors clu former edor of The People, Bill Hagerty, left-wg journalist and thor Mark Seddon, Labour MP Tom Watson and rtoonist Mart Rowson. The vendors are askg for £500, 000 for the eight year lease when go on sale on letter to prospective vtors says: "The Gay Hsar, as we all know, is part and parcel of a rich culary, journalistic and polil tradn. The legendary Hungarian rtrant London, Gay Hsar, named after Imre Kálmán’s world-famo operetta, The Gay Hsars (Tatárjárás), closed 2018.

’ Later, he opened Gay Hsar 1953.

THE GAY HSAR'S SALE SHOULD TEACH TO E OR LOSE OUR FAVOURE RTRANTS

We’re lighted to announce that we have signed the papers allowg to bee the new ctodians of the historic Gay…. Gay Hsar was eventually acquired not by the Goulash Cooperative of regulars, but by two young London rtratrs, Dan Keelg and Mark Andrew, and reopened this tumn wh a new name, Noble Rot. Featured photo: Gay Hsar Facebook page.

A group of Lefti have formed a “Goulash Co-operative” to save the Gay Hsar, Soho’s only Hungarian rtrant. Found 1953, the Gay Hsar was put up for sale last month by Cos Hotels.

”“The Gay Hsar is a natnal treasure, ” says Seddon. My ty (and y, somewhat obssive) rner of the ter was howlg anguish on Friday as news filtered about the imment sale of The Gay Hsar rtrant.

GRACE DENT REVIEWS GAY HSAR

An approach cheerfully adopted by the lik of notor MP Tom Driberg, whose Gay Hsar antics clud tryg to rec Mick Jagger to standg for the Labour party an upstairs salon. Few have the rackety, polics-drenched louchens of The Gay Hsar however. For reasons volvg sentimentaly and schan, the edor dispatched me this week to Hungarian stalwart the Gay Hsar on Greek Street, to document s fal days.

The Gay Hsar’s last hurrah, as were.

My shrift is short for Londoners who moan about change, lamentg a time when Spam ters and smallpox were obvly, at one pot, the Gay Hsar was rigur, but now is the oppose and, sadly, a rtrant n’t pay s bills wh the love of folk who thk ’s really charmg that hasn’t been turned to a Starbucks yet, but never want to eat cumbersome plat of veal goulash bi a dty library of polil bgraphi. Or want to vis a rtrant where the rpet has seen better days and the clientele nsists of tourists wh no ia of London rtrants and ders humourg an elrly relative who still mands to eat the Gay Hsar wish to survive, which I believe do, needs to work out how to keep elements of s glor, scurrilo past, then sharpen them up and make them affable for 2014. The Gay Hsar uld be a geo, battily mad, imperfect yet raffish feedg and waterg hole, steeped history and juicy anecdot, evokg the sense whenever one pops — for a bowl of fish dumplgs dill sce and a large aprit brandy — that London surviv and we’re jt ridiculo meo characters passg through.

THE GAY HSAR

’But prently, let’s not kid anyone, the Gay Hsar needs vtment, a big yellow skip placed outsi and a high-octane clutter and s entire menu scrapped, refoced and ma appetisg. At the Gay Hsar £18 will buy you a plate of smoked goose wh red bbage and solet (Hungarian bean stew). I shall be sad when the Gay Hsar clos, but not remotely surprised.

:-)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.

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

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