Mapping a New Landscape for the French Restaurant in London Post-Second World War to the Millennium

Abstract

This chapter maps the new landscape of the French Restaurant in London from post-Second World War austerity to ‘Swinging’ London, from the arrival of ‘nouvelle cuisine’ to the new food trends of millennial London as the French restaurant in London evolves into the London French restaurant. It is divided into three sections: ‘Post-War Austerity to “Swinging” London: the French Restaurant in 1950s and 1960s London’; ‘Not-So-New and New Cuisine: the French Restaurant in 1970s and 1980s London’; ‘New Food Trends in London: the French Restaurant in 1990s London’. In London’s increasingly diverse food culture, French restaurants continued to hold a significant place. There were a number of developments, notably restaurants opened by people considered ‘food-loving amateurs’, not classically French-trained, or indeed French, but who admired the French food they enjoyed in France. The taste for French bourgeois cookery survived the disappearance from British food culture and writing, brought about by the austerity of the war. The chapter charts the role of prominent restaurateurs of the period, from the Roux Brothers to Terence Conran and includes a number of interviews with restaurateurs with lived experience of a range of French restaurants in London in the second half of the 20th century.