There's been a spate of recent public appeals to save some of Soho's most famous drinking-holes from going under. Many, like The French House are familiar London landmarks, stewed a little too long in cod nostalgia and a reverence to its most celebrated customers, that I believe belongs in a church, not a pub.
Amongst the usual names of the great and the good thrusting an unfamiliar bowl in our direction on crowdfunding sites supported by well-run social-media campaigns, it was a mysterious, seedy looking basement joint on Greek Street that caught my eye. A bar that unlike the others, I had no memory of descending down to its depths, and a place I began to wonder, if, outside the imagination, it even existed at all.
It turned out that I was quite wrong to doubt its authenticity. The New Evaristo Club, or Trisha's as it is affectionately known to it regulars, is, according to the owners, '..one of the last bastions of old Soho, a place of hedonistic community spirit for 78 years and counting.'
The oldest drinking-club in Soho, The New Evaristo is clearly one of best kept secrets in town, but perhaps not for too long. Lit by cheap paper lanterns, the dark subterranean walls are covered with pictures of famous Italian-American movie stars, champion boxers and shadowy acquaintances of Frank Sinatra. A cut-out of Humphrey Bogart sticks to the toilet door, like the soles of your shoes I imagine, to the sticky lino floor.
'It's sunk beneath Greek Street, accessed through a dodgy-looking doorway and a seriously scruffy staircase.', is how Time Out's atmospheric 2014 review starts.
Since launching its 'SAVE TRISHAS' campaign in April, their target of £20,000 was reached on May 13th. Many of the donations that have flooded in have clearly come from individuals and local businesses who understand the importance of keeping places like the Evaristo alive in Soho. I say places, I mean place.
Tim Synge is the writer of Seafront Pages, Original tales from the dark depths of the Kent Riviera, and beyond..
www.seafrontpages.blogspot.com
Amongst the usual names of the great and the good thrusting an unfamiliar bowl in our direction on crowdfunding sites supported by well-run social-media campaigns, it was a mysterious, seedy looking basement joint on Greek Street that caught my eye. A bar that unlike the others, I had no memory of descending down to its depths, and a place I began to wonder, if, outside the imagination, it even existed at all.
It turned out that I was quite wrong to doubt its authenticity. The New Evaristo Club, or Trisha's as it is affectionately known to it regulars, is, according to the owners, '..one of the last bastions of old Soho, a place of hedonistic community spirit for 78 years and counting.'
The oldest drinking-club in Soho, The New Evaristo is clearly one of best kept secrets in town, but perhaps not for too long. Lit by cheap paper lanterns, the dark subterranean walls are covered with pictures of famous Italian-American movie stars, champion boxers and shadowy acquaintances of Frank Sinatra. A cut-out of Humphrey Bogart sticks to the toilet door, like the soles of your shoes I imagine, to the sticky lino floor.
'It's sunk beneath Greek Street, accessed through a dodgy-looking doorway and a seriously scruffy staircase.', is how Time Out's atmospheric 2014 review starts.
Since launching its 'SAVE TRISHAS' campaign in April, their target of £20,000 was reached on May 13th. Many of the donations that have flooded in have clearly come from individuals and local businesses who understand the importance of keeping places like the Evaristo alive in Soho. I say places, I mean place.
Tim Synge is the writer of Seafront Pages, Original tales from the dark depths of the Kent Riviera, and beyond..
www.seafrontpages.blogspot.com
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