She’s 90... but lunch is not over yet for Queen of Soho Elena Salvoni

Published: 20 August, 2010
by PETER GRUNER

LEGENDARY maître d’ and friend to the stars, Elena Salvoni, is set to return to the restaurant business at the age of 90.

Just four months after Elena, from Noel Road, Angel, was reluctantly forced to retire after more than 60 years in West End restaurant management, she is to host a series of lunches at leading venues, starting later this year.

The occasional events will be called “lunch with Elena” and will mean that many of her loyal customers, who include theatrical producer Cam­eron Mackintosh, actor Sean Connery, singer Rod Stewart and television presenter Michael Palin, can meet up with her again. Celebrity Stephen Fry, a regular at her table, once described Elena as “my second mother and the kindest woman in London”.

Known as the Queen of Soho, Elena – whose son Louie runs Islington homeless charity Shelter from the Storm – liked to joke that she would never retire.

But within days of celebrating her 90th birthday, she was asked to leave L’Etoile in Fitzrovia, which she managed, because she had become too expensive to insure against accidents. Born in Isling­ton to Italian parents, Elena left school to work in the rag trade and was a neighbour of playwright Joe Orton, “before he got famous”.

She said: “Joe didn’t have a home telephone so used to come in and borrow ours. He said he didn’t like ringing top theatricals like Terence Rattigan from a local pay-phone.”

She has worked at Soho’s Bianchi’s, L’Escar­got and the Gay Hussar restaurants, before opening Elena’s in the late 1980s.

Elena has lived in Noel Road since 1933, when the house belong­ed to her parents. She and her husband Aldo, 91, were married at St Peter’s Italian Church in Clerkenwell in 1941. They have two children, six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

She still shops at Chapel Market and nearby Sainsbury’s and admits she finds retirement “a bit of a bore”. 

“I’m really looking forward to seeing old friends at the lunches I’ll be hosting at various restaurants,” she said.

Elena, who plans to write a third book about the restaurant business, is supportive of her son Louie, whose charity drop-in centre has just moved to Blundell Street in King’s Cross. 

“I’m very proud of what he is doing for the homeless,” she added. “Louie was always a very caring child.”

Actor Stephen Fry top of bill at homeless shelter night

ACTOR and writer Stephen Fry is to host a glittering charity evening for Islington homeless night centre Shelter from the Storm next month.

The £250-a-ticket event, with music by Florence and the Machine, will be held at Paramount restaurant at the top of Centre Point in the West End on Wednesday, September 29. The charity is seriously in need of funds after being forced to move out of its rent-free, drop-in centre in Elmore Street, Canonbury, last week after Angel-based property developer David Pearl decided to sell it for flats.

The new centre, for up to 40 people made homeless in the recession, has just opened in Blundell Street, off York Way in King’s Cross, where rent is between £30,000 and £40,000 a year.

Louie Salvoni, who runs the night shelter, said: “We’re able to provide a hot meal, a bed for the night and breakfast for many desperate people who otherwise would be living on the streets. But it doesn’t come cheap.”

The evening will start with a champagne reception, followed by a three-course meal and will include a charity auction of art, one-off collectables and surprise gifts. Seats in an executive box at the Emirates Stadium, donated by Arsenal, will be auctioned.

Mr Salvoni thanked everyone involved in the fundraising appeal. “Lola’s bakery at Primrose Hill sends over to the shelter a dozen boxes of cakes every night,” he said. “We would also like to thank companies like Pret A Manger, Lavazza coffee and Met coffee, who have all been extremely generous.” To purchase tickets for the event, email paramount@sfts.org.uk or louie@sfts.org.uk