Downton eatery in race row over ‘un-PC’ decor
RULES is the oldest restaurant in London, founded in 1798 by Thomas Rule, the year Napoleon began his campaign in Egypt. And it’s barely changed since, with the decor, menu and service remaining comfortingly similar for two centuries.
But now the Covent Garden venue — which is so timeless it appeared in episodes of ITV’s hit period drama Downton Abbey — has been forced to remove some of its decorations after one complaint, by MasterChef judge and London Evening Standard restaurant critic Jimi Famurewa.
The writer took offence at an antique charity donations box, held by a carved statue of a black man.
‘One of the first things I saw on entering was a wooden donation box carved into a grotesque caricature of a black man, red-lipped and grinning like a minstrel,’ says Famurewa, who is British-Nigerian.
‘Having mentioned its offensiveness to staff on the way out, I was told that they were “looking into changing it”, but that the centuries-old nature of the boxes makes this complicated; I would gently suggest that it should probably be quite a high priority that some of your patrons aren’t depressingly dehumanised by the decor before they’ve even taken their coats off.’ A spokesman for the restaurant declines to comment.
However, a source tells me: ‘The antique has been there as long as anyone here can remember and there’s never been a complaint until now.
‘Part of the charm of Rules is that it’s like walking back in time. Clearly, there are some aspects of the past that will no longer be tolerated.’
When I visited the 223-year-old restaurant this week to see the offending item, I was informed that it had been covered up, while staff figured out how to remove it without damaging the wall panelling.
Famurewa was so upset by his experience at Rules — which counts historical figures including writers Charles Dickens, William Makepeace Thackeray, John Galsworthy and H.G. Wells among its former customers — that he junked his review and wrote about a trendy Shoreditch Italian joint instead.
Happily, he found the kale salad and fazzoletti pasta there delightful.