His eponymous restaurant on Lexington Street remains a bastion of the area's character and charm
: “So terribly sad x so many happy memories x such a very great part of Soho x unique x inimitable x a consummate host x a superb vintner x possessed of great charm x as wonderful at table as he was at greetings x what a joy x what a loss x gone too soon but not forgotten x with many condolences.”
Edmunds and his eponymous Lexington Street icon is something of a Soho relic in 2022 — a small window into the neighbourhood’s bohemian past, many people’s most romantic restaurant, a gathering place for artists, raconteurs, dandies, flaneuses, claret enthusiasts, and old-school hospitality. Andrew Edmunds, the location, apparently in large part thanks to Andrew Edmunds, the man, remained unchanged in a pocket of central London that has transformed.
and Rita’s, and watched hair salons, fashion boutiques, and advertising agencies come and go, it is a place whose continuity and history has anchored it to its local community.Is there a better backdrop than Old Soho for the beginning of an affair? For more than 30 years Andrew Edmunds has been setting the scene with a Franco-British menu encompassing asparagus, dressed crab, confit duck and rhubarb jelly with cream.
Drapers Arms’s publican Nick Gibson was among those paying tribute to Edmunds in the comments: “My inspiration for steadfast hospitality, absurd generosity, unfussy but fabulous food, some intensely romantic lunches I wished could have lasted forever,” he wrote, “memories and experiences that have enriched my life.”Quality Wines
sommelier, Gus Gluck, who now imports wines wrote that Edmunds inspired his own career path: “Andrew is the truest form of Legend. An inspiration to my own hospitality career. He fostered a place young wine professionals could afford to drink the wines they normally could only serve.”