The French House, Soho
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The French House is a
pub A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the late 17th century, to differentiate private ho ...
and dining room at 49
Dean Street Dean Street is a street in Soho, central London, running from Oxford Street south to Shaftesbury Avenue. It crosses Old Compton Street and is linked to Frith Street by Bateman Street. Culture The Soho Theatre presents new plays and stand-u ...
,
Soho SoHo, short for "South of Houston Street, Houston Street", is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Since the 1970s, the neighborhood has been the location of many artists' lofts and art galleries, art installations such as The Wall ...
, London. It was previously known as the ''York Minster'', but was informally called "the French pub" or "the French house" by its regulars. It sells more
Ricard Ricard is a surname, as well as a Catalan name. Notable people with the surname include: *Amable Ricard (1828–1876), French politician *Étienne Pierre Sylvestre Ricard (1771–1843), French general under Napoleon *Hámilton Ricard (born 1974), C ...
than anywhere else in Britain, and only serves beer in half-pints except on
1 April Events Pre-1600 * 527 – Byzantine Emperor Justin I names his nephew Justinian I as co-ruler and successor to the throne. * 1081 – Alexios I Komnenos overthrows the Byzantine emperor Nikephoros III Botaneiates, and, after his troo ...
, when a recent custom has been that
Suggs Graham McPherson (born 13 January 1961), known primarily by his stage name Suggs, is a British singer-songwriter, musician, radio personality and actor. He came to prominence in the late 1970s as the lead singer of the ska band Madness, which ...
serves the first pint of the day.


History

The pub was opened by a German national named Christian Schmitt in 1891 and traded as "York Minster". Schmitt died in 1911. His wife, Bertha Margaretha Schmitt, continued to run the pub until 1914. With the outbreak of the
First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, Bertha Schmitt sold the pub to a Belgian, Victor Berlemont, who had moved to London in 1900. The bill of sale is posted on a wall at the French still today. He was succeeded by his son Gaston Berlemont, who was born in the pub in 1914, and worked there until his retirement in 1989. After the
fall of France The Battle of France (; 10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign (), the French Campaign (, ) and the Fall of France, during the Second World War was the German invasion of the Low Countries (Belgium, Luxembourg and the Net ...
during the Second World War, General
Charles de Gaulle Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French general and statesman who led the Free France, Free French Forces against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government of the French Re ...
escaped to London where he formed the
Free French Forces __NOTOC__ The French Liberation Army ( ; AFL) was the reunified French Army that arose from the merging of the Armée d'Afrique with the prior Free French Forces (; FFL) during World War II. The military force of Free France, it participated ...
. His speech rallying the French people, "À tous les Français", is said to have been written in the pub. The French House has always been popular with artists and writers.
Brendan Behan Brendan Francis Aidan Behan (christened Francis Behan) ( ; ; 9 February 1923 – 20 March 1964) was an Irish poet, short story writer, novelist, playwright, and Irish Republican, an activist who wrote in both English and Irish. His widely ackno ...
wrote large portions of ''
The Quare Fellow ''The Quare Fellow'' is Brendan Behan's first play, first produced in 1954. The title is taken from a Hiberno-English pronunciation of ''queer''. Plot The play is set in Mountjoy Prison, Dublin. The anti-hero of the play, The Quare Fellow, is n ...
'' there, and
Dylan Thomas Dylan Marlais Thomas (27 October 1914 – 9 November 1953) was a Welsh poet and writer, whose works include the poems " Do not go gentle into that good night" and " And death shall have no dominion", as well as the "play for voices" ''Un ...
once left the manuscript of ''
Under Milk Wood ''Under Milk Wood'' is a 1954 radio drama by Welsh people, Welsh poet Dylan Thomas. The BBC commissioned the play, which was later adapted for the stage. The first public reading was in New York City in 1953. A Under Milk Wood (1972 film), f ...
'' under his chair. Other regulars over the years have included
Francis Bacon Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Alban (; 22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626) was an English philosopher and statesman who served as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England under King James I. Bacon argued for the importance of nat ...
,
Tom Baker Thomas Stewart Baker (born 20 January 1934) is an English actor and writer. He is best known for having played the Fourth Doctor, fourth and longest-serving incarnation of The Doctor (Doctor Who), the Doctor in the science fiction television ...
,
Daniel Farson Daniel James Negley Farson (8 January 1927 – 27 November 1997) was a British writer and broadcaster, strongly identified with the early days of commercial television in the UK, when his sharp, investigative style contrasted with the BBC's mor ...
,
Lucian Freud Lucian Michael Freud (; 8 December 1922 – 20 July 2011) was a British painter and draughtsman, specialising in figurative art, and is known as one of the foremost 20th-century English portraitists. His early career as a painter was inf ...
,
Slim Gaillard Bulee "Slim" Gaillard (January 9, 1911 – February 26, 1991), also known as McVouty, was an American jazz singer and songwriter who played piano, guitar, vibraphone, and tenor saxophone. Gaillard was noted for his comedic vocalese singing ...
,
Augustus John Augustus Edwin John (4 January 1878 – 31 October 1961) was a Welsh painter, draughtsman, and etcher. For a time he was considered the most important artist at work in Britain: Virginia Woolf remarked that by 1908 the era of John Singer Sarg ...
,
Malcolm Lowry Clarence Malcolm Lowry (; 28 July 1909 – 26 June 1957) was an English poet and novelist who is best known for his 1947 novel ''Under the Volcano'', which was voted No. 11 in the Modern Library's 100 Best Novels list.
, and
John Mortimer Sir John Clifford Mortimer (21 April 1923 – 16 January 2009) was a British barrister, dramatist, screenwriter and author. He is best known for short stories about a barrister named Horace Rumpole, adapted from episodes of the TV series '' R ...
. Clive Jennings says of regular clientele such as
Jeffrey Bernard Jeffrey Joseph Bernard (; 27 May 1932 – 4 September 1997) was an English journalist, best known for his weekly column "Low Life" in ''The Spectator'' magazine, and also notorious for a feckless and chaotic career and life of alcohol abus ...
that "the lethal triangle of The French, The Coach & Horses and The Colony were the staging points of the Dean Street shuffle, with occasional forays into other joints such as The Gargoyle or the Mandrake ...
The Groucho The Groucho Club is a private members' club founded in 1985 and located on Dean Street in London's Soho. Its members are mainly drawn from the publishing, media, entertainment and arts industries. The club's facilities include three bars, two ...
or Blacks". When still called York Minster, Raymond Postgate included it in the first volume of his '' Good Food Guide'', 1951-52, with this entry: "Outside, this looks like an ordinary pub; inside it becomes the 'Maison Berlemont,' a French auberge with shelves full of Pernod, Byrrh, Amer Picon, Suze, Cap Corse, Mandarin, and so on. Upstairs there is a small room in which you will get the authentic, best ''cuisine bourgeoise'': for an hour or so you are back in a small Paris restaurant, for a cost of about 5/6. Specialities: Navarin printaniere, Pied de porc, Tete de veau. Wines by the glass 2/-- to 2/6; bottles fairish price, e.g. White Bordeaux, 14/6; Cotes du Rhone, 15/--. (Recommended: Maurice Gorham; R. Postgate). The name was changed to "The French House" after the fire at
York Minster York Minster, formally the Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of Saint Peter in York, is an Anglicanism, Anglican cathedral in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. The minster is the seat of the archbishop of York, the second-highest of ...
in 1984. Contributions toward the restoration fund started arriving at the pub. Upon forwarding them, Gaston Berlemont found that the cathedral had been receiving deliveries of
claret Bordeaux wine (; ) is produced in the Bordeaux region of southwest France, around the city of Bordeaux, on the Garonne River. To the north of the city, the Dordogne River joins the Garonne forming the broad estuary called the Gironde; the Gir ...
intended for him. In recent years, landlady Lesley Lewis has encouraged Soho photographers to exhibit in the pub with regular contributions from John Claridge, William Corbett, Carla Borel and Peter Clark; and members of illustrators' collective, Le Gun. Claridge based his ''Soho Faces'' project at the French from 2004 to 2017. He said, "I decided to document the customers at The French in earnest. For me, it was the one place in Soho that still held its Bohemian character, where people truly chose to share time and conversation, and I became aware that many I had once chinked glasses with were no longer around." The dining room at the French House was opened by Fergus and Margot Henderson in 1992. Fergus would later leave in 1994 to establish his St. John restaurant in Smithfield. Margot continued to run the dining room for several years with Melanie Arnold. Anna Hansen worked under the Hendersons as
head chef A chef de cuisine (, French for ''head of kitchen'') or head chef is a chef that leads a kitchen and its cooks. A chef patron (feminine form ''chef patronne'') (French for ''boss chef'') or executive chef is a chef that manages multiple kitche ...
.


References


External links

*
John Claridge’s Soho Portraits
{{DEFAULTSORT:French House, Soho, The Alfred W. Blomfield buildings Pubs in Soho Restaurants in London Restaurants established in 1910 1910 establishments in England