The Gay Hussar was a celebrated Hungarian restaurant located at 2

Greek Street Greek Street is a street in Soho, London, leading south from Soho Square to Shaftesbury Avenue. The street is famous for its restaurants and cosmopolitan nature. History It is thought to take its name from a Greek church that was built in ...

Soho Soho is an area of the City of Westminster, part of the West End of London. Originally a fashionable district for the aristocracy, it has been one of the main entertainment districts in the capital since the 19th century. The area was develo ...

, 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 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,

Mortimer Wheeler Sir Robert Eric Mortimer Wheeler CH CIE MC TD (10 September 1890 – 22 July 1976) was a British archaeologist and officer in the British Army. Over the course of his career, he served as Director of both the National Museum of Wales an ...

, Aneurin Bevan,

Barbara Castle Barbara Anne Castle, Baroness Castle of Blackburn, (''née'' Betts; 6 October 1910 – 3 May 2002), was a British Labour Party politician who was a Member of Parliament from 1945 to 1979, making her one of the longest-serving female MPs in Bri ...

Ian Mikardo Ian Mikardo (9 July 1908 – 6 May 1993), commonly known as Mik, was a British Labour Member of Parliament. An ardent socialist and a Zionist, he remained a backbencher throughout his four decades in the House of Commons. He was a member of Nat ...

and

Michael Foot Michael Mackintosh Foot (23 July 19133 March 2010) was a British Labour Party politician who served as Labour Leader from 1980 to 1983. Foot began his career as a journalist on ''Tribune'' and the ''Evening Standard''. He co-wrote the 1940 p ...

. The restaurant is named in honour of the elite Hussars of the

Hungarian army The Hungarian Ground Forces ( hu, Magyar Szárazföldi Haderő) is the land branch of the Hungarian Defence Forces, and is responsible for ground activities and troops including artillery, tanks, APCs, IFVs and ground support. Hungary's ground ...

. The name is also associated with the name of a popular Hungarian operetta, '' The Gay Hussars'', by

Emmerich Kálmán Emmerich Kálmán ( hu, Kálmán Imre; 24 October 1882 – 30 October 1953) was a Hungarian composer of operettas and a prominent figure in the development of Viennese operetta in the 20th century. Among his most popular works are ''Die Csárd� ...

. 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" 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