Last orrs at the Gay Hsar – the left’s hotbed of plots, gossip and goulash | Rtrants | The Guardian

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

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

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.

Gay Hsar was closed 2018. 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. A new rtrant opened on the se September at the Gay Hsar 2007.

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

”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.

THE LEGENDARY GAY HSAR RTRANT GETS A MAKEOVER

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