Iconic Soho club faces closure after complaints from millionaire local

2023-06-09

Iconic Soho speakeasy club Trisha’s could close forever: Fury as bar visited by Amy Winehouse, Led Zeppelin and Anthony Bourdain could shut after more than 80 years as council probe complaints from millionaire neighbour

Complaints were made by a local resident in January, prompting an inspection

An iconic speakeasy in London’s Soho is facing closure following a series of complaints from a millionaire neighbour, sparking outrage among its patrons.

The New Evaristo Club, affectionately known as Trisha’s in honour of its longtime Italian matriarch, has been a mainstay of the area for more than 80 years and counts Amy Winehouse and Led Zeppelin as former patrons.

The basement venue, on Greek Street, is seen by many as the last surviving connection to the ‘old school’ Soho, which has been decimated by a string of nightlife closures over the past decade.

But in an Instagram post on Thursday, its owners revealed Westminster City Council wants to review its licence, as it launched a last-ditch appeal for support from its fans.

The controversial review stems from a series of complaints lodged by a homeowner in nearby St Anne’s Court, where properties fetch upwards of £3million. The courtyard is at least three streets away from Trisha’s.

The late Peaches Geldof leaves Trisha’s back in 2008, while right, legendary music producer Mark Ronson

The basement venue, on Greek Street (entrance pictured), is seen by many as the last surviving connection to the ‘old school’ Soho, which has been decimated by a string of nightlife closures over the past decade

According to a council document, the unnamed local complained that the venue was opening later than its licence permitted and claimed people were smoking on the premises. They also branded it a ‘haven for drug users’.

In its appeal on Thursday, the embattled venue wrote: ‘To our enormous upset, Westminster Council have told us they want to ”review” our licence. They are asking to close us down and we need your support.’

The appeal asked punters to email the council to ‘address your thoughts on how our much loved small music venue operates, paying particular to any (or lack of) crime and disorder and public nuisance.’

The post said all objections need to be sent to the local authority by the end of Friday.

It comes after the much-loved club managed to crowdsource funds to remain operational following the worst of Covid pandemic in 2020.

It is famed for its cheap drinks and charm and has seen a host of famous faces over the years, including Led Zeppelin, Anthony Bourdain and Mark Ronson.

In his hit TV series The Layover, Bourdain famously took celebrity chef Marco Pierre White to Trisha’s, telling the cook: ‘There is no finer establishment.’

He branded it the ‘Dean Martin of drinking establishments’, adding: ‘They don’t give a f***. If you want your picture on the wall, you’d have to hang it yourself.’

Late music legend Amy Winehouse loved the venue and was often seen hanging out in the smoking area sporting her iconic beehive.

A bar tender told Dazed magazine in 2020 how long-time owner Trisha Bergonzi once told Jimmy Page to ‘f*** off’ when he asked her to make him a cheese toastie on a packed-out Friday night.

Late music legend Amy Winehouse was a regular at Trisha’s and was often seen hanging out in the smoking area sporting her iconic beehive

A bar tender told Dazed magazine in 2020 how long-time owner Trisha Bergonzi once told Jimmy Page to ‘f*** off’ when he asked her to make him a cheese toastie on a packed-out Friday night

Tracy Kawalik recalled: ‘The following Monday, the band’s manager came back in and reminded Trish what had happened.

‘She had no clue who they were and apologised immediately, to which their manager said: ”Jimmy was made up. No one’s ever told him to fuck off in Soho before”’.

Speaking to The Face that same year, Ms Kawalik reminisced about the characters she had met over the years.

She said: ‘A couple of hours into my first shift at Trisha’s, I’d swapped numbers with a guy wearing a three-piece suit and a pocket watch, and had been asked by an aspiring diamond-thief to check a hammer in behind the bar.

‘Only moments before, I poured Jarvis Cocker a double and was told by Trisha to keep Patsy Cline’s Crazy on loop. These anecdotes don’t scratch the surface when it comes to summing up what makes her club a Soho institution that deserves being saved.’

She added that ‘despite all the gentrification the neighbourhood has seen’, Trisha has kept drinks and cover charges much lower than other bars and ‘always made sure the staff and band get paid first.’

Tracy added: ‘She is all-round pure class and has always been adamant to keep her bar, and by extension her neighbourhood, true to its roots.’

Big Little Lies star Shailene Woodley, 28, and fellow actor Callum Turner, 29, were also recently spotted enjoying a fun-filled outing there.

In its official justification for launching a review, Westminster Council said it first received a complaint from a local resident in January of this year, prompting a visit by inspectors

Trisha’s is famed for its cheap drinks and charm and has seen a host of famous faces over the years, including Led Zeppelin, Anthony Bourdain and Mark Ronson

In its official justification for launching a review, Westminster Council said it first received a complaint from a local resident in January of this year, prompting a visit by inspectors.

It said management were then unable to produce some CCTV footage and claimed it had exceeded its 60-person capacity limit.

Council bosses also scolded the historic venue for ‘failure to properly maintain members’ and guests’ books’, adding that there was ‘no effective control of people entering the premises.’

It admitted that ‘some improvements’ have been made in recent months, but after a series of meetings, City Inspectors ‘have no confidence in the ability of the premises to comply’ with its licence conditions.

The move has sparked outrage among the club’s regulars on social media, who branded it an ‘outrage’ and a ‘disgrace.’

One fumed: ‘This is the last unique, special place standing in Soho, we need you open because you are the link between the past and the present and you stood throughout all the changes.’

MailOnline has contacted Trisha’s, Westminster City Council and the London’s night czar for comment.

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