James Innes-Smith

Do London’s oldest restaurants still cut the mustard?

They're the antithesis of finicky fine dining

  • From Spectator Life
Wiltons on Jermyn Street [Alamy]

When George William Wilton opened his shellfish-mongers close to Haymarket in 1742, he could never have imagined that his business would still be thriving 280 years later. The place has outlived ten monarchs and is as old as Handel’s MessiahBefore visiting, I imagined a typically Hogarthian scene with portly gentlemen in dandruff-flecked suits feasting on potted shrimp and vintage port. Perhaps they had dropped by for a ‘spot of luncheon’ before toddling off to their various clubs at nearby St James’s. 

Up until relatively recently you might well have witnessed just such a quintessentially English scene; sadly, the agreeable old buffers who would once have frequented places such as Wiltons no longer exist in quite the same way. Today’s ‘old buffers’ seem neither old nor particularly buffery, having grown up in the 1970s when the concept of ageing slowed down considerably. Nowadays you are just as likely to see a 70-year-old aristo prancing around at Glasto as buying a round at the Garrick.

Comments

Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months

Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.

Already a subscriber? Log in