Memorial Service: Laurence Isaacson CBE

A rich mix of foodies and luvvies paid tribute to Laurence Isaacson, exuberant Soho restaurateur and arts benefactor, at St Paul’s, Covent Garden.

More than 20 fans and friends performed a song-and-dance routine with eulogies at a memorial celebration at the Actors’ Church.

‘He was a trail blazer,’ said Henrietta Green, founder of British Charcuterie. ‘At a time when food in the UK was either stuffy or boring and bland, Laurence saw the potential for loosening everything up, adding a bit of theatre.

‘It started with Café des Amis du Vin in 1980 in Covent Garden, then described as “a dead quiet area – a bit of a risk really”.

‘He and partner Neville Abraham started Groupe Chez Gérard and then Soho Soho – so good they named it twice – Café Fish, Livebait, and invented the Carnivores’ Club with ginormous, double rib steaks, then Home House, Scott’s, Bertorelli and, most recently, L’escargot. ‘Laurence was the instinctive showman who understood the power of branding and marketing – rare in those days… How kind he was, loyal, fun to be with and to eat out with – and how much I miss him.’

Director Stephen Barlow told how Isaacson launched the Covent Garden Festival. ‘Only Laurence with his legendary chutzpah could justify an arts festival in the most arts-rich square mile of the world…

‘Laurence was a frustrated actor himself, having been accepted into RADA at a young age, only to be told bluntly he would not work until he was much older and even then he would be a character actor, never the romantic lead. Laurence, however, was a young man in a hurry to be successful and rich and he channelled his energies elsewhere. I like to think he eventually created theatre of his own, in partnership with Neville Abraham, through his magnificent cast of glamorous West End restaurants.’

Colin Tweedy, promoter of business sponsorship for the arts, said that, when Laurence was awarded his CBE, he saw that the citation was for services to the restaurant industry. ‘I rang him and said it surely should read “for services to the arts” and I would contact the Culture Secretary Chris Smith to change the wording. Laurence said, “No, dear, let that be when they make me a Dame.”’