Seasonal secrets of The Savoy
From Barbara Windsor and Sid James as Santa Claus to its meticulously- researched historic feasts, Britain’s most glamorous hotel never did anything by halves... and Christmas was no exception
SINCE it first opened its doors to guests in 1889, Christmas has been the pinnacle of the social calendar at The Savoy Hotel, its most extravagant celebration and a cause for pushing the boat out. Theatre impresario Richard D’Oyly Carte built Britain’s first modern hotel on The Strand in London using the profits from Gilbert and Sullivan whose comic operas were a sensation. Having toured North America and Europe with his opera company, he was disappointed with the lack of hotels back home. So he created his idea of a perfect modern luxury hotel adjoining his Savoy Theatre. He hoped theatregoers, in town to see his operas at the theatre, would book in next door at the hotel. It was a roaring success and set the trend for the capital’s other luxury hotels, though none would surpass its extravagance. Its early reputation was sealed when D’Oyly Carte lured legendary hotel manager César Ritz and chef Auguste Escoffier to The Savoy – their joint salaries were worth over a million pounds in today’s money. François Latry, head chef from 1919 until 1942, was renowned for the extravagance of his dishes. One of his original creations was crayfish filled with foie gras, and he braised turbot in vintage burgundy for friends Sherlock Holmes creator Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and fellow writer Hilaire Belloc. Nevertheless, Latry’s favourite lunch of the year was Christmas. “No meal in the world has such a history,” Latry, enthused. He had come to work at Claridge’s in Mayfair during the First World War before moving to The Savoy. Having grown up near Lake Geneva, his son Roger became a British agent during the Second World War, working with the French Resistance. Latry was sick with worry as Roger had been imprisoned at Belsen. It was only towards the end of the war that he realised that his son was certainly alive. The two were reunited and moved to Montelimar in the South of France where they ran an inn together. His Christmas menu was a Savoy Continental extravaganza. His Henry IV soup was in honour of the Battle of Arnayle- Duc, in which French soldiers sustained themselves on rice and tomatoes with capon – a forgotten delicacy of a castrated male chicken fed a rich diet of milk or porridge. His Cardinal Richelieu sole, after being buttered and braised in white wine, was served on a bed of green Marennes oysters. For his turkey with sausage- meat- and- breadcrumbs stuffing, Latry tracked down a 1573 recipe. Festive dining at The Savoy was nothing if not extensively researched. But then Britain’s most famous hotel never did anything by halves. Rather than having a children’s menu, Latry made skilled imitations of their parents’ food. His “lobster” for young guests was a blend of potatoes, white sauce and milk, served in the shell, with coloured semolina as imitation caviar garnish. But whatever the menu for lunch, The Savoy tables would be decorated with boar’s heads at Christmas time – one of the few traditions that has disappeared. Not much else has changed. Until relatively recently the kitchens themselves had scarcely seen any modifications since the 1890s. James Walsh, a junior chef who arrived at the hotel in the 1960s, recalled that the kitchens were, “huge, cavernous and very noisy… some of the stoves were still run on coal and the place was always very hot. It was like the engine room of the Titanic”. In wartime, as could be expected with the Casablanca- esque cross- section of guests, there were often spies at The Savoy. Dusko Popov, a Serbian agent codenamed Tricycle, was a full- time resident during the war and he stayed to celebrate Christmas. Partly thanks to his powers of seduction, he was one of the inspirations for Ian Fleming’s James Bond. Even Bond’s codename 007 came from Popov. The Serbian would call his uncle in Belgrade on 26- 007 and Fleming thought it had a ring to it.
POPOV was first welcomed to Britain on his defection in December 1940 by an MI5 chauffeur, who took him from Whitchurch airfield outside Bristol straight to The Savoy. He was met in the foyer by Major Thomas Robertson, who specialised in handling double- agents. In his tartan trousers, Robertson looked, Popov thought, “like Hollywood’s concept of a dashing British military type”. “Let’s get acquainted,” Robertson greeted him, steering Popov towards the iconic American Bar. They did indeed get acquainted and not only did Robertson find him a promising spy, the two spent a raucous Christmas Day together. The two men headed out for lunch at Quaglino’s on St James’ first, then to the Lansdowne Club in Berkeley Square for billiards, before heading back to The Savoy for more dining. Robertson recalled: “I think he
‘ Christmas guests in the Sixties included Roger Moore, Ronnie Corbett and Ingrid Bergman’
[ Tricycle] enjoyed himself thoroughly once he took part in the Christmas bonhomous rioting, well lubricated by champagne. “We were picked up by a couple by the name of Keswick who took us to the Suivi nightclub [ on Stratton Street in Mayfair] where we danced. Early in the morning, we returned to The Savoy, both viewing things through rose- tinted spectacles.” Popov lived there for the rest of the war when he wasn’t travelling to neutral Portugal and into occupied Europe to supply the Axis Powers with misinformation. Silvino Trompetto, the hotel’s first Britishborn, native English speaking head chef, worked his way up through The Savoy Grill to become head chef of the more expensive Savoy Restaurant in the 1960s. As with the other head chefs before him, he had a cubbyhole of an office, which looked out over vast banks of ovens. If Trompetto was receiving visitors in the kitchen, he would often take them to his office for a glass of champagne to cool down and chat in relative calm, yet allowing him to keep one eye on his chefs through the window. Responsible for roughly 2,000 meals per day, he would drive in for the lunch service from his house in St John’s Wood and go home for a rest in the afternoon, then be back in again for dinner preparations from 5pm. Christmas guests in the Sixties included Roger Moore, Ronnie Corbett, Max Bygraves, Michael Redgrave, and Ingrid Bergman. Many clubs and societies hosted their seasonal parties in the hotel ballroom throughout December. The Variety Club of Great Britain started up in 1949 with a dinner at The Savoy attended by film moguls, agents and celebrities, all eager to donate their talents to help raise money for children. They continued to hold their star- studded Christmas parties at the hotel. Sid James and Barbara Windsor were characteristically lively as they dressed up in Santa Claus costumes. The Savoy staff themselves enjoyed Christmas parties at the hotel with the managers waiting on them for the night. The post- war period was a luxurious time compared to the privations of the Second World War and rationing, which were still in recent memory. Never to be outdone in festive fine dining, at Claridge’s in Mayfair, the hotel that D’Oyly Carte built as a smaller sister to The Savoy, Christmas pudding- making remains a hugely important event. He bought the site from its original owner, Mrs Claridge, whose name he kept for the hotel and opened it in 1898. Every year, the kitchens make eight tonnes of pudding – as heavy as eight baby elephants. Updates to the recipe have been made through the years, including some ingredient tweaking during the rations of the Second World War. A few years ago dried breadcrumbs were swapped for brioche ones and the dark rum for a lighter IPA. Other than that the recipe has been handed down from chef to chef for over a hundred years and has been shared in the hotel’s eponymous cookbook. The Ritz on nearby Piccadilly is also known for its super- sized Christmas. Throughout the festive season 500 mince pies are baked fresh every day, 60 turkeys a day are served at The Restaurant and 5,000 finger sandwiches at the afternoon tea. As well as a chance to show off the cooking, Christmas is a chance to deck the miles of halls at London’s grand hotels. Traditionally there were swathes of holly and mistletoe but these are more modest in size in modern decoration. What’s still far from modest is The Ritz’s 25- foot- tall Nordic pine Christmas tree, grown especially for the hotel in the Highlands. Located in the foyer, it towers through the middle of the circular staircase and up to the hotel’s first floor. The main tree is dressed in traditional red and gold with shimmering baubles, cherubs, gold reindeer heads, velvet bows, silver teapots and twinkling lights. The display continues through the Long Gallery, flanked by smaller pine trees and garlands leading to The Restaurant, where wreaths hang in the windows. The Restaurant was dramatic enough a setting to film the final special of Downton Abbey. At Claridge’s, the main tree is decorated by a different fashion designer every year. In 2015, Burberry’s creation featured over 100 gold and silver metallic fabric umbrellas and thousands of motion- sensor lights, programmed to sparkle as guests walked past. It was Chanel designer Karl Lagerfeld’s turn in 2017. Inspired by childhood memories of Christmas, his display featured spruce trees scattered around the hotel foyer. The centrepiece was a 16- foot inverted tree made to look like a silver stalactite, with silver roots and a mirrored star. Icelandic sheepskin rugs were arranged on the ground underneath to suggest a recent snowfall. Shoe designer Christian Louboutin also transformed the whole foyer into a frosted forest. At its heart was a tree decorated in gold and red, with fairy lights and gingerbread stilettos, and topped with a gold- leaf crown.
AS THE scale of Claridge’s installations has grown over the years so too has the building time. Now it often requires three nights, and is shrouded in cloth until the unveiling. There can be as many as 50 members of staff working at the same time, taking down the foyer chandelier, re- wallpapering the walls and installing light boxes to frame the tree. As soon as the last guest is out of the bar about 12.30am, the work starts. While most guests sleep through the decorating work below, there is always one pair of eyes over the goings- on. “One thing we have never done is take down the portrait of Mrs Claridge, who sits in the lobby,” PR director Paula Fitzherbert explains. “We are a bit superstitious about it!” Richard D’Oyly Carte, who died in April 1901 aged 56, would no doubt be delighted that the Christmas show still goes on... as best it can in the current circumstances at his Savoy hotel and at his other, smaller jewel, Claridge’s.