Vincenzo "Enzo" Apicella, FCSD (26 June 1922 – 31 October 2018) was an Italian London-based artist, cartoonist, designer, and restaurateur.

Life and work

Enzo Apicella was born in

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

, Italy on 26 June 1922. Having served in the

Italian Air Force , colours = , colours_label = , march = (Ordinance March of the Air Force) by Alberto Di Miniello , mascot = , anniversaries = 28 March ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, he went on to study at film school in Rome. Soon after, he became a freelance designer working in illustration and print journalism before co-founding ''Melodramma'', an opera magazine, in

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

in 1953. When the magazine ceased publication, he came to England in 1954 and began designing posters and sets for television, as well as producing cartoon films. A self-taught cartoonist, his cartoons were published in ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

Punch Punch commonly refers to: * Punch (combat), a strike made using the hand closed into a fist * Punch (drink), a wide assortment of drinks, non-alcoholic or alcoholic, generally containing fruit or fruit juice Punch may also refer to: Places * Pun ...

The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British weekly newspaper printed in demitab format and published digitally. It focuses on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. Based in London, the newspaper is owned by The Econo ...

Private Eye ''Private Eye'' is a British fortnightly satire, satirical and current affairs (news format), current affairs news magazine, founded in 1961. It is published in London and has been edited by Ian Hislop since 1986. The publication is widely r ...

Harpers & Queen ''Harper's Bazaar'' is an American monthly women's fashion magazine. It was first published in New York City on November 2, 1867, as the weekly ''Harper's Bazar''. ''Harper's Bazaar'' is published by Hearst and considers itself to be the st ...

'', and '' Liberazione''. In 1974 Apicella worked with artists John & Rosalind on the

LP album The LP (from "long playing" or "long play") is an analog sound storage medium, a phonograph record format characterized by: a speed of rpm; a 12- or 10-inch (30- or 25-cm) diameter; use of the "microgroove" groove specification; and a ...

''A Night at Factotum''. He produced the sleeve design and caricatures. He was not only a restaurant designer and restaurateur, but is acclaimed as one of the protagonists of the

Sixties File:1960s montage.png, Clockwise from top left: U.S. soldiers during the Vietnam War; the Beatles led the British Invasion of the U.S. music market; a half-a-million people participate in the 1969 Woodstock Festival; Neil Armstrong and Buzz A ...

– an enigmatic maverick, described by ''

Vogue Vogue may refer to: Business * ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine ** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Australia'', an Australian fashion magazine ** ''Vogue China'', ...

Bevis Hillier Bevis Hillier (born 28 March 1940) is an English art historian, author and journalist. He has written on Art Deco, and also a biography of John Betjeman, Sir John Betjeman. Life and work Hillier was born in Redhill, Surrey, where the family liv ...

as "One of the creators of the Swinging Sixties" who profoundly influenced the face of London's restaurant scene. Known for going that much further than any of his contemporaries, Apicella understood that the pop uprising demanded more eating out than in. He worked as an interior designer for over 150 restaurants, including 70 for Peter Boizot's

Pizza Express PizzaExpress is a British multinational restaurant group, owned by a group of bondholders. It has over 470 restaurants across the United Kingdom and 100 overseas in Europe, Hong Kong, China, India, Indonesia, Kuwait, the Philippines, the Unite ...

. He was co-owner of Club dell'Arethusa, Meridiana, Factotum, Apicella '81 and Condotti. Apicella worked with many London restaurateurs including

Peter Langan Langan's Brasserie is a restaurant situated on Stratton Street in Mayfair, London. Opened by the Irish entrepreneur Peter Langan on 20 October 1976 in partnership with the actor Michael Caine, the Brasserie (which had previously housed the ornat ...

Peter Boizot Peter James Boizot MBE (; 16 November 1929 – 5 December 2018) was an English entrepreneur, restaurateur, politician, art collector and philanthropist. He is best known as the founder of PizzaExpress. Early years The son of Gaston and Su ...

, Michael Chow, Alvaro Maccioni,

Sir Terence Conran Sir Terence Orby Conran (4 October 1931 – 12 September 2020) was an English designer, restaurateur, retailer and writer. He founded the Design Museum in Shad Thames, London in 1989 The British designer Thomas Heatherwick said that Conran ...

, and Mario Cassandro. Apicella was a member of the

Chartered Society of Designers The Chartered Society of Designers (CSD) is a professional body for designers. It is the only Royal Chartered body of experienced designers. Its membership is multi-disciplinary – representing designers in all design, disciplines including I ...

and is listed in the ''Dictionary of British cartoonists and caricaturists''.

References

External links

Official website

Enzo Apicella. Artista, uomo libero, cosmopolita nel cuore

Goodbye Baby and Amen: A saraband for the sixties

The Spaghetti Tree: Mario and Franco and the Trattoria Revolution

Publications

* 1967 ''Non Parlare Baciami'' * 1976 ''The Pizza Express Cookbook'' * 1978 ''The Recipes That Made a Million'' * 1983 ''Memorie di Uno Smemorato'' * 1985 ''Jonathan Routh's Initial good loo guide: Where to 'go' in London.'' London: Banyan, 1987. . Text by

Jonathan Routh Jonathan Routh, born John Reginald Surdeval Routh,Dennis Barker"Jonathan Routh: Television presenter who brought Candid Camera to Britain" ''The Guardian'', 9 June 2008. (1927–2008) co-starred in the British version of the television show ''C ...

. * 1987 ''The Harpers & Queen Guide to London's 100 Best Restaurants'' * 1988 ''Don't Talk, Kiss'' * 1993 ''Mouthfool: A Collection of Culinary Cartoons'' * 2003 ''Apicella Versus the United States of America'' * 2007 ''God Bless America'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Apicella, Enzo 2018 deaths 1922 births British cartoonists British designers Artists from Naples Italian emigrants to the United Kingdom