Marylebone Cafe, Marylebone Lane. Modest, unassuming place. Lovely cup of tea.
Welcoming windows.
Plain, vibey ambience.
Enormous pile of ashtrays. This is a place for smoking hard.
There's an air of the decor not quite being finished. Don't know how long it's not been quite finished.
Wouldn't you like to spend time arranging these windows.
I'm hungry. This sign makes me hungry.
This cafe holds many memories for me as my parents, John and Alma Negri were proprietors for many years from the late fifties to the late sixties. My paternal grandparents ran it before that for many years. I remember seeing my auntie Brenda on the evening TV news in 1963, crossing Wigmore Street, with a tray of tea and biscuits. They were for Christine Keeler and John Profumo when the had just been arrested. The picture of the corner with the telephone is also evocative. That was where the old phone was that needed four old pennies (with buttons A and B to press). The phone is in a corner at the top of the cellar stairs and was where the local junkies would slip into to have a fix. My parents were quite sanguine about this but the junkies would still have to be ejected if caught in the process! We also had the 'Restaurant' next door (is it a travel agents now?) We only opened it at lunchtimes and it was run by my dad's twin sisters, Anna and Maria. I think they were as big a draw as the steak and kidney puddings.
Posted by: Peter Negri | January 09, 2005 at 10:36 PM
Peter, many, many thanks for those stories. Brilliant to hear. Really evocative.
Posted by: russell | January 10, 2005 at 08:45 AM
I was here a few days ago for lunch. It was one of the few places open on a Good Friday. The staff were eastern European I think, and friendly and smiling. The food took ages to arrive however. It was ok grub, and the cup of tea was also fairly decent. Not bad, but definitely not the cheapest caff in town either.
Posted by: Jin | March 29, 2005 at 10:38 AM