The Blue Cockatoo was a restaurant in Cheyne Walk, Chelsea, London, at the corner with Oakley Street.[1] It is considered to have been England's first bistro.[1]
| The Blue Cockatoo | |
|---|---|
| Restaurant information | |
| Street address | Cheyne Walk, Chelsea |
| City | London |
| Country | England |
The restaurant and its upper room was popular with artists, including Charles Rennie Mackintosh and his wife, Margaret Macdonald Mackintosh, who had studios in nearby Glebe Place from 1915.[2] Other regulars included Augustus John, Randolph Schwabe, John Duncan Fergusson, and Margaret Morris[2] although the food itself "was often unappetizing and the service erratic".[2] Others included Eric Gill in 1927.[3]
Nonetheless, the restaurant was recommended by a Tom Pocock in Raymond Postgate's first volume (1950/51) of The Good Food Guide where the entry reads, "Just the thing for visitors with a hankering after art and bohemia. The food is good even if inclined to be monotonous, and the Blue Cockatoo is a sixteenth-century house lit by candles; the furniture is old and rickety, and there is a lovely view of the river through the trees of Carlyle Gardens. Very cheap but not licensed. Lunch 3/--, dinner 3/6 and 5/--."[4]
In 1962–1967, The Blue Cockatoo along with the Pier Hotel was sold to developers Wates Group to be replaced by "luxury flats".[1][3] The block of flats is called Pier House, and a statue of A Boy on a Dolphin stands at the front.[3]
References edit
- ^ a b c Topham, Guy (17 February 1967). "Civil War in Chelsea". The Spectator. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
- ^ a b c Harris, Sheila (5 March 2017). "Charles Rennie Mackintosh at Glebe Place, Chelsea, London". 78 Derngate. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
- ^ a b c "Simon's Walks". At Home Inn Chelsea. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
- ^ Postgate, Raymon (1951). The Good Food Guide. London: Cassell & Co. p. 183.
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