Britain’s best Art Deco restaurants

What do you picture when you hear the term Art Deco? Fantastical ideas of Baz Lehrman’s Great Gatsby, gilded brasseries and de facto extravagance  fail to capture the pastiche of styles making up this early 20^thcentury movement. Somehow, what was once a collective word for the artistic expressions that followed Art Nouveau has morphed into a dizzying, dancing circus troupe of hairbands, flapper dresses and sidecars.

In Britain, the lasting legacy of the movement has been in our architecture. Sure, we have a few ecclectic creations, like the sumptuous interiors of Soho’s Brassiere Zédel, but predominantly, the movement arrived in elegant, paired-back buildings found in the strange hinterlands of our seaside resorts, where municipal architects got to work building pools and cinemas with streamlined, cruise-liner style exteriors.

Today, Britain’s remaining buildings offer slim pickings, but a surprising number have been transformed into hospitality venues, so we can continue to enjoy the elegance and craftsmanship of these rare architectural treasures.