Soho's leading Bohemian hostelry, previously the Yorkminster, was run for much of the 20th century by the French family, the Berlemonts. When Victor Berlemont took over the pub in 1910 he was the only foreign landlord in Britain and used to eject troublesome customers by announcing: "I'm afraid one of us will have to leave and it's not going to be me." One day a vicar walked in and announced to the surprised bar staff, "I'm from the York Minster," to which the barman replied, "No, you're in the Yorkminster".
The vicar then explained that he had been sent by the Dean of the Minster in York who had mistakenly received the pub's wine. "We were so pleased until we looked at the address label and realised that the postman saw the 'Dean' bit but not the 'Street' bit," said the vicar. During the Second World War the pub became a meeting place for the French Resistance, and legend has it that De Gaulle drew up his Free French call-to-arms after lunch upstairs.
From the Wikipedia page
The French House was and is popular with artists and writers. Brendan Behan wrote large portions of The Quare Fellow there, and Dylan Thomas once left the manuscript of Under Milk Wood under his chair. Other regulars over the years include Francis Bacon, Daniel Farson, Lucian Freud, Augustus John, Malcolm Lowry, Michael "Atters" Attree and John Mortimer
Cool Story Bro:
Went there with some Irish friends of a friend one evening, and I've never seen a group of men, feel so emasculated by the act of drinking a half (you can't buy pints in the French House), they couldn't leave there fast enough to head to a.n.other grotty boozer, it was quite late, to down a full mansized pint...
New Tag: A RollerSkating Jam, not called Saturday
ps, the QR code is just a link/advert for Addison Lee. I'm as disappointed writing that fact down as I was when the link to the advert came up on my phone, I was expecting something much more exciting and French...
old tag: The French House, Soho
info below from this ES article about pubs with a secret history
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/restaurants/article-850865-pubs-with-a-secret-history.do
Soho's leading Bohemian hostelry, previously the Yorkminster, was run for much of the 20th century by the French family, the Berlemonts. When Victor Berlemont took over the pub in 1910 he was the only foreign landlord in Britain and used to eject troublesome customers by announcing: "I'm afraid one of us will have to leave and it's not going to be me." One day a vicar walked in and announced to the surprised bar staff, "I'm from the York Minster," to which the barman replied, "No, you're in the Yorkminster".
The vicar then explained that he had been sent by the Dean of the Minster in York who had mistakenly received the pub's wine. "We were so pleased until we looked at the address label and realised that the postman saw the 'Dean' bit but not the 'Street' bit," said the vicar. During the Second World War the pub became a meeting place for the French Resistance, and legend has it that De Gaulle drew up his Free French call-to-arms after lunch upstairs.
From the Wikipedia page
The French House was and is popular with artists and writers. Brendan Behan wrote large portions of The Quare Fellow there, and Dylan Thomas once left the manuscript of Under Milk Wood under his chair. Other regulars over the years include Francis Bacon, Daniel Farson, Lucian Freud, Augustus John, Malcolm Lowry, Michael "Atters" Attree and John Mortimer
Cool Story Bro:
Went there with some Irish friends of a friend one evening, and I've never seen a group of men, feel so emasculated by the act of drinking a half (you can't buy pints in the French House), they couldn't leave there fast enough to head to a.n.other grotty boozer, it was quite late, to down a full mansized pint...
New Tag: A RollerSkating Jam, not called Saturday
ps, the QR code is just a link/advert for Addison Lee. I'm as disappointed writing that fact down as I was when the link to the advert came up on my phone, I was expecting something much more exciting and French...