To Simpson’s on the Strand – newly resurrected and with owner Jeremy King in attendance – for the launch of the self-published memoir of Neville Abraham: erstwhile owner of many famous restaurant names from the 1980s and ’90s such as Café des Amis du Vin, Chez Gerard, Cafe Fish and Bertorelli’s.
For anyone who is ‘into restaurants’, it’s a most excellent read, framing capably the lame state of the business in the 1970s and 1980s and the huge opportunities it presented for anyone with half a brain. Neville clearly is in possession of a whole brain and thus smashed it out of the park in his entreprises, a very good number of which will trip off the tongue for diners above the age of fifty. He also enjoyed high success in the wine trade, most notably with Liberty Wines, where he served as Chairman from its inception in 1997 until 2022, helping build it into one of the foremost wine wholesalers in the UK.
If you are not a restaurant anorak but just like social history and gossip, the book provides a constant stream of amusing connections regarding famous names of late 20th century wine, hospitality and business generally. It also provides numerous enjoyable vignettes of life in ’60s, ’70s and ’80s London. Neville’s sharpness and Indian heritage contribute to interesting perspectives interleaving the anecdotes and narrative which derive from an unusually varied career. Later in the book, the focus shifts to his other passions of music, cricket and educational philanthropy.
The tone is approachable and not too self-congratulatory (although it’s fun to realise that he himself may have typed the cover blurb, which opens: “By any standards, Neville Abraham has led a rich, immensely varied and successful life”).
At £20, Each and Every Highway by Neville Abraham is fair value, and is available via Amazon at [ url ]
(BTW Simpsons did the launch proud. The newly reopened old place is looking marvellous and was already rammed in the downstairs dining room. The canapés were very good and were capably served by the on-the-ball staff. All of this though, of course, was put in the shade by the sartorial standards of owner Jeremy King’s tailoring. He’s a tall man, so the fine cut has even more impact!)
