Andrew’s Cafe may have been gutted, but our memories of the kitchen takeovers that transformed a greasy spoon into a silver spoon endure.
For our BurgerMonday, SpagWednesday, WichThursday, FriFriday, CoffeeSaturday and DeliSunday pop-ups, we drew culinary superstars like Giorgio Locatelli and Nigella Lawson out of their comfort zone to prepare comfort food for full houses for exceptionally foodish Londoners.
Star chefs from the UK as well as France, Italy, Portugal and the USA could be spotted slumming behind Andrew’s flat-top griddle, flipping burgers or tossing spaghetti.
The landmark workingman’s “caff” (British for “diner”), in a listed building at 160 Gray’s Inn Road, has been all but gutted for redevelopment. Carrying out what developers call, with British understatement, “partial demolition”, only the facade has been left standing. But happily, Andrew’s and its cherished all-day breakfasts have moved into a smaller corner space nearby at 59 Gray’s Inn Road.
These were brilliant and, i have to say, groundbreaking events. Burger Mondays and – particularly – SpagWednesday were wonderful. I walked past this exact scene last week and great memories came flooding back. Good times.