The Gay Hussar was a celebrated Hungarian restaurant located at 2 Greek Street, Soho, central London, England. It was established in 1953 and closed in 2018.

History

Victor Sassie was the founder of The Gay Hussar restaurant in 1953. Sassie was sent to Budapest in Hungary by the

British Hotel and Restaurant Association British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

when he was 17. He served his apprenticeship at the

Gundel Gundel is a well-known restaurant located in the Budapest City Park, Hungary. History A previous restaurant in the spot, ''Wampetich'', opened in 1894. In 1910, Károly Gundel took over the Wampetich's lease and operated the restaurant. His ...

restaurant in Budapest. On his return to London in 1940, he established first the Budapest restaurant and then The Gay Hussar, which was to become popular with left-wing politicians. Diners included

T. S. Eliot Thomas Stearns Eliot (26 September 18884 January 1965) was a poet, essayist, publisher, playwright, literary critic and editor.Bush, Ronald. "T. S. Eliot's Life and Career", in John A Garraty and Mark C. Carnes (eds), ''American National Biogr ...

, Mortimer Wheeler,

Aneurin Bevan Aneurin "Nye" Bevan PC (; 15 November 1897 – 6 July 1960) was a Welsh Labour Party politician, noted for tenure as Minister of Health in Clement Attlee's government in which he spearheaded the creation of the British National Health ...

, Barbara Castle, Ian Mikardo and Michael Foot. The restaurant is named in honour of the elite

Hussar A hussar ( , ; hu, huszár, pl, husarz, sh, husar / ) was a member of a class of light cavalry, originating in Central Europe during the 15th and 16th centuries. The title and distinctive dress of these horsemen were subsequently widely ...

s of the Hungarian army. The name is also associated with the name of a popular Hungarian

operetta Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs, and dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, length of the work, and at face value, subject matter. Apart from its s ...

, ''

The Gay Hussars :''See also The Gay Hussar restaurant, and Tatárjárás (disambiguation)'' ''The Gay Hussars'' is an operetta in three acts by Emmerich Kálmán. The piece was Kalman's first operetta and a hit throughout Europe and America. The first version, i ...

'', by Emmerich Kálmán. In October 2013, it was made known that owners

Corus Hotels Corus Hotels is a group of 8 hotels based in the UK, with 2 hotels in Malaysia. The hotels are owned by London Vista Hotel Limited, which is part of Malayan United Industries. The brand name was launched in 1998 by the Regal Hotel Group, in ord ...

would put the Gay Hussar up for sale. A group of journalists, politicians and lawyers formed the "Goulash Co-operative Ltd" to raise money to secure the eight-year lease, but its bid was rejected by Corus. The restaurant closed in June 2018. In 2020, a restaurant called "

Noble Rot Soho A noble is a member of the nobility. Noble may also refer to: Places Antarctica * Noble Glacier, King George Island * Noble Nunatak, Marie Byrd Land * Noble Peak, Wiencke Island * Noble Rocks, Graham Land Australia * Noble Island, Great B ...

" opened on the site.

References

External links

The Gay Hussar website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gay Hussar, The 1953 establishments in England 2018 disestablishments in England Buildings and structures in the City of Westminster Defunct European restaurants Defunct restaurants in London European restaurants in London Greek Street Hungarian restaurants Restaurants disestablished in 2018 Restaurants established in 1953 Soho, London