David

Walk through Soho today and you will find sleek bistros, upscale izakayas, and designer coffee shops lining every block. But the Soho food scene did not start this way. It began as a ragged cluster of artist-run kitchens inside abandoned industrial lofts, fueled by creativity rather than capital. Understanding how Soho’s dining landscape transformed over … Read more

Walk through Soho on any given morning and you will hear a dozen languages before you reach the end of Old Compton Street. The espresso machines are humming. Someone is arguing about football in Italian. A barista is dialing in a single origin Ethiopian that arrived yesterday. This is the Soho that refuses to disappear, … Read more

Walk down Old Compton Street in Soho today and you will find fish and chips shops, cocktail bars, and crowds of tourists. But if you stop at number 59 and look up, you will see a green plaque marking one of the most important addresses in music history. This was the 2i’s Coffee Bar, the … Read more

Some restaurants serve dinner. Kettner’s served history. When you walk past the Georgian townhouse on Romilly Street in Soho today, you are standing in front of one of London’s oldest surviving dining rooms, a place where kings dined, playwrights plotted, and a secret tunnel reportedly connected the kitchen to a theatre stage door. The story … Read more

Walk down Old Compton Street in Soho today and you will find restaurants, bars, and the constant hum of London nightlife. But number 59 holds a secret that changed British music forever. This is the story of the 2i’s Coffee Bar, the birthplace of British rock and roll. The 2i’s Coffee Bar was a coffeehouse … Read more

Walk down any street in Soho today and you will find the ghosts of centuries past sitting alongside the latest openings. This tiny square mile in the heart of London’s West End has been feeding people since before the United States existed as a nation. Understanding why Soho’s historic restaurants are worth seeking out means … Read more

Soho has lost hundreds of beloved food establishments over the decades. Rents skyrocket, chains move in, and family-run shops shutter their doors for good. But a remarkable group of old Soho delis and cafes have refused to disappear. These are the historic venues that opened their doors fifty, seventy, even over a hundred years ago … Read more

Stephen Fry has warned that Soho is facing a “cultural catastrophe” as decades of LGBTQ+ history, iconic venues, and community safe spaces disappear under the weight of gentrification, rising rents, and large-scale development. His voice has become one of the most prominent in a growing chorus of activists, venue owners, and community members fighting to … Read more

Walk down Brewer Street in London’s Soho any day of the week and you cannot miss it. That unmistakable pistachio-green storefront, the pyramids of Parmigiano Reggiano stacked behind the glass, the scent of fresh pasta hanging in the air. Lina Stores has been standing at number 18 since 1944, and in the eight decades since, … Read more

Somewhere in a backroom above a Greek Street café, a tape recorder was switched on. A market trader who had worked Berwick Street since 1948 leaned forward and began to talk. A club doorman from Walker’s Court cleared his throat and remembered the night the bands stopped playing. A restaurateur described the smell of the … Read more