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Last week's announcement that Antony Worrall Thompson has had to place his restaurant company into administration is bad news for London's gastropubs.
"The big problem was the Greyhound," he admitted, referring to his pub in Henley. This follows the closure of Jean-Christophe Novelli's two gastropubs, the White Horse in Harpenden and the French Horn in Steppingly.
The French celebrity chef had hoped to open 10 pubs across the Home Counties, but those plans have been shelved. The fact that pubs have been hit hard by the credit crunch is well-known, but I had hoped that gastropubs would be spared.
After all, many of them offer restaurant-quality food at reasonable prices and, for that reason, looked recession-proof.
However, that clearly isn't the case. On current projections, at least 20 per cent of them will go under by the end of the year.
This is particularly bad news for me since my little corner of London has recently witnessed an explosion of gastropubs.
Last year saw the opening of the Princess Victoria in Shepherd's Bush, a marvellous establishment that has already been festooned with awards, including Time Out's Best New Gastropub of 2008. For those who knew the Princess Victoria in its former incarnation, this is a remarkable renaissance.
Even more impressive is the transformation of the Queen Adelaide.
Until two months ago, it was one of those pubs you would cross the street to avoid. When QPR were playing at home, it became a focal point for football violence, with hundreds of drunk fans spilling out on to the pavement and hurling abuse at rival supporters.
Not any more. I dropped in for dinner last week with my wife and two friends and, if it wasn't for the traffic noise on Uxbridge Road, we could have been in the Cotswolds.
The menu wasn't too ambitious - always a good sign - and my starter of tiger prawns followed by a main course of fried cod were both excellent. All in all, a wonderful addition to the neighbourhood.
It has become fashionable to complain about the middle-class invasion of certain areas, but I have been waiting for Shepherd's Bush to become gentrified since I first moved into the area 18 years ago. It will be a disaster if the credit crunch stops this process in its tracks now that it is finally under way.
"I hate the term 'gastropub'," says Adam Holland, the manager of the Queen Adelaide. "We're just a pub that serves good food."
I don't care what he calls it. I just hope that people like him, who are doing so much to transform London's inner-city landscape, manage to weather the recession.
Toby visited
Pizza Express. As a father of two toddlers, I recommend the new range of Plum baby food. My kids can't get enough of the blueberry, banana and vanilla purée.
Reader views (1)
Another decent area bites the dust.
- Smith, London, 20/02/2009 02:39
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