Simpsons in the Strand — one of the most storied restaurants in central London — is selling off many of its contents at an auction this August.
The swanky establishment opened in 1828 and has hosted the likes of Charles Dickens, Winston Churchill and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (in fact it was a favourite haunt of Sherlock Holmes). Over a two-day auction on 2 and 3 August it will be stripped of Wedgwood crockery; tables and chairs; famous Drakes silver trolleys, from which beef joints were until recently carved table-side; lighting, various other fixtures and fittings... more or less everything by the sounds of it. It's sad news (exciting too, I guess, if you've got expensive taste in dining room decor, and have deep pockets to match).
Simon Rose, Auction Director at Pro Auction said: "We are expecting strong interest in these beautiful items which have been carefully chosen for their design excellence as well as their historical significance."
The restaurant — which is part of the the Savoy Buildings — has announced itself as 'temporarily closed' since March 2020, and plans to reopen next year, but any hopes it'll come back as its dignified old self now appear to have dissipated. The restaurant's website suggests 'a select few items will be available to purchase as it enters a new chapter' — but when you're getting rid of the very things that make the place iconic, you wonder if it's the kind of 'new chapter' that Arthur Conan Doyle would approved of.
This Simpsons isn't to be confused with the one in the City, which is fighting to reopen, in an ongoing tussle with its landlord.
