Simpsons in the Strand

 

Simpsons-in-the-Strand

 

Simpsons-in-the-Strand is one of the last bastions of traditional English cuisine in London. Since the days when Charles Dickens popped in for a hearty Sunday dinner, its built its reputation on serving classic Roast Beef.

 

IV

The tradition of roast meat dinners goes back to 1848. We’ve had time to practice and refine our art, and it has not changed.  The meat is the same, it’s still sauced in the same way, its all Scottish beef. And if we get it wrong, we would be pillaried, because the name of Simpsons is synonymous with roast beef.

 

VO
The restaurant still uses their famous silver domed trollies to serve meat hot to the table, something you wouldn’t find in your average carvery.

 

IV

The customer not only has a choice of how much they want, whether they want their meat cooked, well done or rare, in fact they can see where it’s coming from, so they can see that they’re getting a good form of beef and not some roguey piece of topside.

 

IV: General Manager

We currently have six carvers working at Simpsons, they are a dying breed, so what we do is we take younger people who are interested in it, want to learn, can actually talk to customers and enthused about what they’re doing, and we train them.

 

VO

One young recruit, preserving this very British tradition is Antony Zoltek, a former chef from Poland.

 

IV: Antony

To be just carver, it takes couple of months, but if you wanna be really good, it takes a year I think. I don’t think I’m very good because I’ve been working here three years, but I know enough.

VO

Upstairs the restaurant is a picture of serenity, and you’d never guess that the kitchen downstairs makes about 12,000 meals each month.

 

IV

Over a period of one month we get through between 550 and 600 gallons of gravy, between two and a half and three tons of potatoes. Over the year about 35 tons of fall river Beef and 80 kilos of horse radish a month.

 

VO

But as nouvelle and post modern cuisine sweep the London restaurant scene, can Simpsons afford its stiff upper lip approach to dining?

 

IV

There aren’t that many traditional English restaurants anymore. Even pubs are now moving away to sort of an eclectic mix of food offerings and gastropubs. There is a need, I genuinely believe, to be able to offer in one of the greatest capitals in the world, a traditional English restaurant.