Stones star’s Sticky Fingers eaterie comes unstuck...
AGENERATION of Rolling Stones fans have found culinary satisfaction at Bill Wyman’s Sticky Fingers, but the bassist is shutting down his legendary restaurant after 32 years, I can reveal.
‘Bill’s devastated that it’s had to close, but the Covid-19 pandemic made it impossible to keep going,’ one of his friends tells me. ‘ It combined his passions for comfort food and music, and it always meant a lot to him, right up until the end.’
Sticky Fingers, which he named after the 1971 Stones album, was based on Wyman’s favourite ‘messy’ American- style cuisine including burgers and fries, sticky ribs and fajitas.
The musician, who left the Stones in 1993, wanted the Kensington dining room to be ‘a haven of good times and good food’.
But its grand opening was eclipsed when Wyman, then aged 52, attended the launch with his 18-year-old fiancee, Mandy Smith. He had started courting her when she was just 13 and, according to her, began a sexual relationship the following year. He was later investigated by Scotland Yard’s Serious Crimes Squad, but no charges were brought.
A lot had changed by the venue’s 28th anniversary, which Bill marked by hosting a private party there with his third wife, Californian model Suzanne Accosta, 50, and their daughters Jessica, 25, and Matilda Mae, 23. The restaurant was a popular destination not only for foodies but also rock ’n’ roll fans, as Bill filled the walls with more than 100 items from the Bill Wyman Archive.
They included a selection of his own instruments such as his fretless bass guitar, which he constructed himself in 1961 and used at his first ever meeting with his future bandmates, Sir Mick Jagger and Keith Richards.
The venue has now been completely stripped of all items, while a sign on the front door reads: ‘We are sorry for any inconvenience that this may cause and we thank you for your continued support throughout the years.’