Trocadero (London)

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For the origin of the term Trocadero, and other uses of the word, see Trocadero (disambiguation).

In London the Trocadero Restaurant of J. Lyons and Co. opened in 1896 at a site on Shaftesbury Avenue, near the theatres of the West End, which had been formerly occupied by the notorious Argyll Rooms, where wealthy men had met the ladies of the night. The stylish connotations of the name "Trocadero" derive from the Battle of Trocadero in southern Spain, a citadel held by liberal Spanish forces that was taken by the French troops sent by Charles X, in 1823. The battle was commemorated in the Place du Trocadéro, Paris, and the monumental glamor of the Parisian site has given rise to a variety of locales bearing its name.

The new settings were magnificent in an Opera Baroque style, and the various Trocaderos of the English-speaking world have derived their names from this original, the epitome of grand Edwardian catering. Murals on Arthurian themes decorated the grand staircase, and the Long Bar catered to gentlemen only. During the grim days of World War I, the Trocadero initiated the first "concert tea": tea was served in the Empire Hall, accompanied by a full concert programme. After the war cabaret was a feature of the Grill Room. The Trocadero closed on February 13, 1965.

Trocadero is currently a tourist-oriented entertainment, cinema and shopping complex in Piccadilly Circus following a redevelopment in the 1980s which involved gutting the interior whilst retaining the external Baroque facade. However its key original attractions Fun World a large amusement arcade which latterly became known as Sega World in about 1994 and the Guinness World Records Exhibition had closed several years ago, and in 2005 developers announced plans to replace them with an office and hotel development which have since been scrapped, and replaced with plans (currently underway) to refurbish the current shopping center/arcade etc. and introduce some new attractions including the London amora (The Academy of Sex and Relationships).

[edit] The Trocadero Cinema

The magnificent 3,400-seat Trocadero Cinema in the Elephant and Castle area of the South Bank opened in December 1930. The cinema is no more but its Wurlitzer organ, the largest ever shipped to the UK, survives.

[edit] The London Trocadero in popular culture

• In The Magician's Nephew, part of C.S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia, Andrew Ketterley is forced to treat the evil Queen Jadis to what was in his own words "an exceedingly expensive, not to say ostentatious, lunch" at the Trocadero in London. This was confirmed by his further statement that on account of her conduct there (which was disruptive to say the least) he would never be able to show his face there again, mentioning the restaurant by name.

[edit] External links

• London Trocadero official site
• Trocadero Restaurant launch, early days and banquets
• Trocadero Restaurant
• Auditorium of the Trocadero Cinema