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Fears for works of art as blaze guts restaurant
A FIRE destroyed parts of an Italian restaurant in Chinatown on Tuesday night.
Four fire engines and around 20 firefighters were called to the blaze at Chez Victor in Wardour Street.
The fire gutted the ground floor and basement and heavy smoke charred the building.
The then-French restaurant, which opened in 1901, was a meeting place for writers and performers in the ’60s when owner Victor Gilbert entertained Richard Burton, Michael Caine, Laurence Olivier and Peter Cook.
It was the heart of a network of trendy haunts including the legendary Marquee Club and Ronnie Scott’s jazz club.
It is feared that a portrait of General de Gaulle and Free French souvenirs, which became part of the decor in the ’60s, may have been destroyed in the blaze.
Adrian Harrington, who collects restaurant memorabilia and acquired a 120-page guest book from a fellow dealer earlier this year, said: “Chez Victor was about the only French restaurant in London at the time and it was the place they tended to gather. Victor was a genial host and served a glittering clientele.
“They had wonderful paintings downstairs – I don’t know the extent of the fire but it would be terrible if the décor had been lost.”
Mr Gilbert’s family sold the restaurant to the Biagio group in 1988.
A spokesman said the damage to the kitchen and ground floor was “extensive” but that Chez Victor would reopen at a later date.
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