Eat well, drink well and live well

"Eat well, drink well and live well" - a quote from Victor Sassie, proprietor of the Gay Hussar restaurant in Greek Street. Born August 28 1915, died June 7 1999. Restaurateur who became involved in catering in the early 1930s, sent by the British Hotel and Restaurant Association to Budapest, Hungary, to work for Karoly Gundel in 1932. He was working at the Hungarian Pavilion in New York, NY, by 1939, and then moved to the Budapest restaurant in London, England. After serving in the second world war, he reopened this restaurant in 1945, changing its name to the Gay Hussar by 1954.

The Gay Hussar has been favoured by politicians for many years. In the picture you can just make out the old blue-and-white plaque reading 'Recommended by Egon Ronay's Guides' - a blast from the past when Roy Ackerman owned both the restaurant and the guides...

Roy Ackerman quotes Victor Sassie on his Coolcucumber.tv food and drink online tv/video website here: www.coolcucumber.tv 

* Read the Grauniad obituary
* The Gay Hussar's webite is here.