We stopped off at Colbert for a bite to eat. It reopened about a year ago, after a kerfuffle about the previous place that was on the site, called Oriel.
We used to go to Oriel which was a buzzy French style cafe. They served a good breakfast and it was somewhere you could turn up and somehow get squeezed in.
The owner of the area, Earl Cadogan, reputedly didn't like the service at Oriel and thought the food expensive and so he wouldn't renew their lease.
For probably a couple of years it was then a building site on the corner of Sloane Square. Some of us wondered what would emerge, after such a long time.
When it finally did, it was - er- another French brasserie. Similar look, reconfigured walls, similar menu, but new owners, now part of the conglomerate that runs the Wolseley, which is the place just across the road from the Ritz.
The one year old establishment has been made to look as if its been there for ages, even down to a set of slightly worn looking postcards hanging from the drinks shelves in the bar area. Vintage theatre posters adorn the walls, including shows from the nearly adjacent Royal Court.
I'm sure they've modernised something (the kitchens, maybe?) but for all practical purposes they have simply recreated Oriel with a new name.
2 comments:
It looks like such a photofit I'd have sworn it was the Oriel. Not that I would have known that is what it was called save for your thoughtful "old" photo. The Oriel must have been there since the early 90s - I had Sunday brunch there once and something else another time. Extremely nice place.
It looks like a lot of recycling with the same furniture.
Doris It's probably also a big money thing.
The place is now run by the people who run The Ivy and The Wolseley. Its definitely a different layout inside although I'm not sure if the old 'downstairs' is still there.
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