Baudry Greene

Baudry Greene. . , Baudry Greene was founded in 1785 by sisters-in-law Baudry and Annabelina Greene. They were notorious socialites of the age, famed for throwing lavish parties with their husbands, Wilhelm D Palmerston and Yann Comme-Belle, great entrepreneurs and philanthropists who had made their money in the biscuit trade in the 1760s and 70s. Tragedy struck in 1783 when the men died in a freak sailing accident on the South Devon coast. Details are scarce, though it is alleged that one of the two may have been wearing roller skates whilst the other was below deck trying to find the ingredients for a pink gin he believed would ward off evil spirits. After a brief period of mourning the two women, driven into penury by poor legal advice and an excessively bacchanalian wake for their late husbands, made the decision to open their own parlour, enabling them to entertain their friends whilst also living off the proceeds., George III was rumoured to have been a regular attendee at the more lively evening sessions at which much drink and opium is said to have been consumed. Indeed the word bawdy is known to derive from Baudry's notorious insouciance and coquettishness with the upper echelons of Georgian society that attended her soirées., __________________________ , bawdy ('bɔ:di), adjective; , dealing with sexual matters in a comical way; humorously indecent. , __________________________, It may also be observed that to be "green with envy" is thought to have been borne out of the frustrations felt by those not on the guest list for the famous Wednesday evening musical gatherings Annabelina established in 1788 events which survive to this day, albeit on a more commercial basis. Bookings can be made online., Both died in 1850, Annabelina on January 23rd aged 90 and Aureliana on March 25th aged 92, having suffered from repeated bouts of syphilis the previous year. They were by then renowned for having been linked romantically to some of the great men of the age, including Baudelaire, Tolstoy, and Washington, to name but three., _______________________________________________ , green with envy, adjective; , covetously jealous, green-eyed, resentful, mega-jelz, fomo'd , ______________________________________________, After their deaths, the premises were left in the hands of two sons - Iain, Annabelina's scandal ridden progeny, and Aureliana's erudite if wayward son Guillaume. This did not go well and in 1870 an ambitious young Auguste Escoffier moved from Nice to London and took over the premises aged 23. It is here that he learned to master his trade before becoming the head chef of the Ritz, revolutionising food in the capital forever., Escoffier kept a keen eye on the enterprise until the day he died in 1935 when the business was sold off to settle his debts. The premises lay empty during the war until, in 1955, a six-year-old Jeremy King happened to walk past eating a croque monsieur and persuaded his parents to open it up again. They agreed, and a decade-long refurbishment, in which no expense was spared, began., The Italian Yacht Company Riva was engaged to finish the woodwork (which took three years) while Glassmakers from the island of Murano were shipped in to make the fluted glass. The marble floor was a major delay to the opening as the first shipment sank in the Mediterranean on its way from Turkey, causing another three-year delay. These features remain on show to this day., It was upon walking past and seeing the Italian varnishers at work that a dapper Chris Corbin, sipping a cappuccino, sought out the owner of the establishment and offered his services in order to be part of the audacious new opening. So it was that Corbin and King went on to open some of the city's finest dining establishments having first worked together at Baudry Greene., During its rich and storied past a great many famous people have spent time here and eaten the legendary coronation chicken sandwich that Escoffier himself created especially for his own wake. Great artists, philosophers and politicians have always felt at home in Baudry Greene. A tradition that continues today. Do join them. ,