Ciro's (London)

Last updated

Ciro's, often written Ciros, was an exclusive nightclub in Orange Street, Leicester Square, London, "just behind the National Gallery". [1] It was famously closed during WWI for serving alcohol illegally. A fashionable club of the same name later opened [2] at the same location. [3]

Contents

Club and restaurant chain

The Ciro’s restaurant chain had branches in Monte Carlo, Paris, [4] London and Biarritz. [5]

In 1897, Ciro, an Italian-born Egyptian headwaiter, in Monte Carlo, opened his first restaurant within the fashionable narrow radius of a hundred yards around the square, fronting the casino, on the Galerie Charles III, [5] next to his former place of employment.

The name Ciro's comes from Italian-born Egyptian Ciro Capozzi who founded the first Ciro's bar in Monaco around 1892, [6] next to the café Riche in the newly built Galerie Charles III. According to the story of James Gordon Bennett Jr., having a difference about a table on the terrasse, he bought the café Riche and gave it to Ciro who named it the Ciro's. [7] In 1911, Ciro Capozzi sold the name to an English consortium (including William Poulett, 7th Earl Poulett as main investor, [8] and Clément Hobson [9] ) who open the Deauville Ciro's (still existing as a restaurant belonging to the Groupe Lucien Barrière), the Paris Ciro's in 1912, [10] [11] and the London one in 1915. Ciro's became a European high society restaurant chain with branches in Monte Carlo, [12] Paris, London [13] (where Audrey Hepburn danced before her film career [14] ), and Deauville. Bartender Harry MacElhone, famous for Harry's New York Bar, first worked at Ciro's in London after World War I. [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23]

In 1911, Ciro sold to an English Syndicate headed by Lord Poulett and Clement Hobson with M.Rizzi as general manager. [24] [25]

"Ciro's was a hip London establishment (before another popular one opened up in Los Angeles in 1940), that had as their bartender Harry McElhone (author of ABC of Cocktails), at which Jimmy took over when Harry went off to Paris. ..." (Ross Bolton) [26]

"Louis Adlon, grandson of the proprietor of Berlin’s Hotel Adlon opened Hollywood’s first iteration of Ciro’s in 1934 [27] [28] (with Erich Alexander [29] and George Sorel [30] ) Located on Hollywood Boulevard, the club was informally part of a chain with locations in London, Paris and Berlin. The Hollywood Ciro’s was not a success, apparently, because it soon folded." [31]

London

In May 1915, Ciro’s London branch opened, as a private club, in Orange Street, near the back of the National Gallery. [32]

The producer Jack Haskell staged a cabaret there around 1917, and said that an evening's entertainment at Ciro's would cost at least £10/10. [33] [lower-alpha 1]

The club came to public attention in 1916 when it lost its licence after a police raid at 11 pm on Sunday 19 November 1916. It was proved they were serving jugs of champagne (sold as "special ginger beer") after hours, and to non-members. [34] This was in the depths of the War, when butter was rationed and petrol unobtainable. A workers' newspaper commented:

... if that's the way to win the war, and denotes a burning enthusiasm, the Tory press is right; Australia hasn't been doing her best, for she has scarcely got past beer by the jugful. [35]

The two managers were each fined £125 (equivalent to £9,017in 2021) and three directors were fined £25 (equivalent to £1,803in 2021) each, with costs. [36]

By 1921 a club of that name had opened in London, and was frequented by the fashionable and well-to-do. [37]

Chicago

Related but not owned by: Ciro's Grill Franco-American, 18 W. Walton Place, Chicago, IL. [38] [39]

Notes

  1. ↑ If Haskell was referring to 1916 prices, £10/10 would be equivalent to around £800 in 2021.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Donat</span> English actor (1905–1958)

Friedrich Robert Donat was an English actor. He is best remembered for his roles in Alfred Hitchcock's The 39 Steps (1935) and Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939), winning for the latter the Academy Award for Best Actor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Monte Carlo</span> Quarter and ward of Monaco

Monte Carlo is officially an administrative area of Monaco, specifically the ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is located. Informally, the name also refers to a larger district, the Monte Carlo Quarter, which besides Monte Carlo/Spélugues also includes the wards of La Rousse/Saint Roman, Larvotto/Bas Moulins and Saint Michel. The permanent population of the ward of Monte Carlo is about 3,500, while that of the quarter is about 15,000. Monaco has four traditional quarters. From west to east they are: Fontvieille, Monaco-Ville, La Condamine, and Monte Carlo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Natascha McElhone</span> English actress (born 1971)

Natascha Abigail Taylor, known professionally as Natascha McElhone, is a British actress. She is a graduate of the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. In film, she is best known for her roles in Ronin (1998), The Truman Show (1998), and Solaris (2002).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ciro's</span> Former nightclub in West Hollywood, California, U.S.

Ciro's was a nightclub on Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood, California owned by William Wilkerson. Opened in 1940, Ciro's became a popular nightspot for celebrities. The nightclub closed in 1960 and was reopened as a rock club in 1965. After a few name changes, it eventually became The Comedy Store in 1972.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Park MGM</span> Casino hotel resort in Las Vegas

Park MGM, formerly Monte Carlo Resort and Casino, is a megaresort hotel and casino on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada, United States. It is owned by Vici Properties and operated by MGM Resorts International. It was developed by Mirage Resorts and Circus Circus Enterprises, both later acquired by MGM.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tamara Toumanova</span> Georgian-American ballerina (1919–1996)

Tamara Toumanova was a Russian-born Georgian-American prima ballerina and actress. A child of exiles in Paris after the Russian Revolution of 1917, she made her debut at the age of 10 at the children's ballet of the Paris Opera.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martine Carol</span> French actress (1920–1967)

Martine Carol was a French film actress. She frequently was cast as an elegant blonde seductress. During the late 1940s and early 1950s, she was the leading sex symbol and a top box-office draw of French cinema, and she was considered a French version of America's Marilyn Monroe. One of her more famous roles was as the title character in Lola Montès (1955), directed by Max Ophüls, in a role that required dark hair. However, by the late 1950s, roles for Carol had become fewer, partly because of the introduction of Brigitte Bardot.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hotel Adlon</span> Building in Berlin–Mitte, Germany

The Hotel Adlon Kempinski Berlin is a luxury hotel in Berlin, Germany. It is on Unter den Linden, the main boulevard in the central Mitte district, at the corner with Pariser Platz, directly opposite the Brandenburg Gate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Régine Zylberberg</span> Belgian-French singer and nightclub impresaria (1929–2022)

Régine Zylberberg, often known mononymously as Régine, was a Belgian-born French singer and nightclub impresario. She dubbed herself the "Queen of the Night".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ballets Russes</span> Itinerant ballet company (1909–1929)

The Ballets Russes was an itinerant ballet company begun in Paris that performed between 1909 and 1929 throughout Europe and on tours to North and South America. The company never performed in Russia, where the Revolution disrupted society. After its initial Paris season, the company had no formal ties there.

Louis Adlon, also known as Duke Adlon, was a German-born film actor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">White lady (cocktail)</span> Alcoholic beverage

White lady is a classic cocktail that is made with gin, cointreau or Triple Sec, fresh lemon juice and an optional egg white. It belongs to the sidecar family, made with gin in place of brandy. The cocktail sometimes also includes additional ingredients, for example egg white, sugar, cream, or creme de menthe.

The Original Ballet Russe was a ballet company established in 1931 by René Blum and Colonel Wassily de Basil as a successor to the Ballets Russes, founded in 1909 by Sergei Diaghilev. The company assumed the new name Original Ballet Russe after a split between de Basil and Blum. De Basil led the renamed company, while Blum and others founded a new company under the name Ballet Russe de Monte-Carlo. It was a large scale professional ballet company which toured extensively in Europe, Australia and New Zealand, the United States, and Central and South America. It closed down operations in 1947.

The Monte-Carlo Masters is an annual tennis tournament for male professional players held in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France, which borders on Monaco. It is played on clay courts at the Monte Carlo Country Club and is held in May. The tournament is part of the nine ATP Tour Masters 1000 events on the ATP Tour. Rafael Nadal has won the men's singles title a record eleven times.

The Société des Bains de Mer, officially the Société Anonyme des Bains de Mer et du Cercle des Etrangers à Monaco, is a publicly traded company registered in the Principality of Monaco. SBM owns and manages the Monte Carlo Casino, the Opéra de Monte-Carlo, and the Hôtel de Paris in Monte Carlo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hôtel de Paris</span> Luxury hotel in Monaco

The Hôtel de Paris Monte-Carlo is a luxury hotel that is located at Place du Casino in Monte Carlo, Monaco. It was opened in 1864 as part of the development of Monaco by the Société des Bains de Mer. In March 2019, the hotel reopened after undergoing a $280 million renovation, which took more than four years to complete.

<i>Monte Carlo</i> (2011 film) 2011 film by Thomas Bezucha

Monte Carlo is a 2011 American adventure-romantic comedy film based on the short story Headhunters by Rankin/Bass co-founder Jules Bass. It was directed by Thomas Bezucha. Denise Di Novi, Alison Greenspan, Nicole Kidman, and Arnon Milchan produced the film for Fox 2000 Pictures and Regency Enterprises. It began production in Harghita, Romania on May 5, 2010. Monte Carlo stars Selena Gomez, Leighton Meester and Katie Cassidy as three friends posing as wealthy socialites in Monte Carlo, Monaco. The film was released on July 1, 2011. It features the song "Who Says" by Selena Gomez & the Scene and numerous songs by British singer Mika. Monte Carlo received mixed reviews from critics, but earned $39.7 million on a $20 million budget. Fox Home Entertainment released Monte Carlo on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on October 18, 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">A. Wallis Myers</span>

Arthur Wallis Myers was an English tennis correspondent, editor, author and player. He was one of the leading tennis journalists of the first half of the 20th century.

Harry MacElhone was an early 20th century bartender, most famous for his role at Harry's New York Bar in Paris, which he bought in 1923.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diki-diki</span>

The diki-diki is a cocktail made with calvados, Swedish Punsch, and grapefruit juice, dating back to the 1920s where it was popular in London's higher-end American bar scene but is now more commonly served as a Tiki drink. The original recipe calls for shaking the ingredients with ice in 2:1:1 proportions, although many later variations have modified the ratio to greater emphasize the calvados as the base ingredient (4:1:1).

References

  1. ↑ "Champagne in Jugs". The World's News . No. 787. New South Wales, Australia. 13 January 1917. p. 6. Retrieved 8 June 2022– via National Library of Australia.
  2. ↑ "W.A. Newspapers v. Railways". The Daily News (Perth) . Vol. XLIX, no. 17, 332. Western Australia. 22 November 1930. p. 8. Retrieved 8 June 2022– via National Library of Australia.
  3. ↑ "From London Town". The Telegraph (Brisbane) . No. 16111. Queensland, Australia. 19 July 1924. p. 13. Retrieved 8 June 2022– via National Library of Australia.
  4. ↑ "Ciro, Paris 1928 Menu Art". Vintage Menu Art. Retrieved 2024-02-21.
  5. 1 2 "The Classy Ciro's Restaurant Chain". Jazz Age Club. 2010-02-17. Retrieved 2024-02-21.
  6. ↑ "M. Ciro, Italian born Egyptian founder of Ciro's restaurant in Monte Carlo, pictured on the French Riviera in 1909. He sold the restaurant in 1911 to an English syndicate which included the Earl of Rosslyn and Clement Hobson. Other branches were opened in London, Paris and Biarritz". alamy.com. 1909. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
  7. ↑ "Ciro, Paris 1923 Menu Art". Vintage Menu Art. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
  8. ↑ "Journal de Monaco" (PDF). Journaldemonaco.gouv.mc. pp. 3–6.
  9. ↑
  10. ↑ "The interior of Ciro's restaurant, Rue Daunou, Paris". agefotostock. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
  11. ↑ "The Classy Ciro's Restaurant Chain". Jazz Age Club. 17 February 2010. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
  12. ↑ "Sem on the Riviera - the famous caricaturist's very latest impressions. A page of caricatures by Sem (Georges Goursat) taken on the French Riviera. Clockwise from top left, Lord Howard de Walden, Mr Gordon Bennett, the millionaire newspaper proprietor at Ciro's, Monte Carlo, Lord Wandsworth, Lord Savile, Lord Westbury, all at the Hotel de Paris, Monte Carlo, M. Santos Dumont, M. Henri Rochefort and the Duc de Dino all at the Hotel Metropole, Monte Carlo and the Grand Duke Michael of Russia". alamy.com. 1913. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
  13. ↑
  14. ↑ "Audrey Hepburn: 'Roman Holiday' Star Started as Nightclub Dancer," December 16, 2020, Variety (recapping July 5, 1950 Variety review of her dance show), retrieved February 5, 2022
  15. ↑ "Andrew MacElhone Dies". New York Daily News. 20 September 1996.
  16. ↑ Pathé, British. "Ciro's Club". Britishpathe.com.
  17. ↑ British Pathé (13 April 2014). "Ciro's (1953)". YouTube. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21.
  18. ↑ Aaron1912 (20 September 2010). "A Night At Ciro's (1932)". YouTube.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)[ dead YouTube link ]
  19. ↑ Williams, Olivia (2014). Gin Glorious Gin:How Mother's Ruin Became the Spirit of London. London: Headline Publishing Group. ISBN   978-1-4722-1534-5.
  20. ↑ Hindson, Catherine (1 June 2016). London's West End Actresses and the Origins of Celebrity Charity, 1880-1920. University of Iowa Press. p. 198. ISBN   9781609384258 – via Google Books.
  21. ↑ "Ciro's Club Coon Orchestra". Redhotjazz.com.
  22. ↑ "Audrey Hepburn exhibition staged at National Portrait Gallery". Independent.co.uk. 3 December 2014.
  23. ↑ "The Coming of Ciro's to London - THE INTERACTIVE WAR NEWS". Illustratedfirstworldwar.com.
  24. ↑ https://www.jazzageclub.com/the-classy-ciros-restaurant-chain/370/
  25. ↑ "Ciro's Monte Carlo Restaurant Sold". The New York Times. 1911-03-28. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2024-02-21.
  26. ↑ "JIMMY" LATE OF CIRO'S LONDON (1930). Cocktails. Philadelphia: David McKay. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  27. ↑ "Hollywood Filmograph". Hollywood Filmograph. 1934. Feb. 17, 1934 ... Ciro's (formerly the Club New Yorker) threw its doors open Wednesday night to the public. It was one of the swellest turn-outs we have seen in some time. Harold Lloyd dropped in with his wife, Mildred, and ... Mrs. Buckley's party. Mario Alverez's orchestra furnished the music. The place is being operated by Erich Alexander, George Sorel and Louis Adlon, Jr.
  28. ↑ "VM-175B". Historic Films. HOLLYWOOD 1935 - 03:11:50 - Montage, Hollywood Landmarks: Ciro's, Earl Carrol Theater, Cocoanut Grove.
  29. ↑ "Erich-Alexander Winds". IMDb.com. Retrieved 24 October 2018.
  30. ↑ "George Sorel". IMDb.com. Retrieved 24 October 2018.
  31. ↑ "1940: Ciro's Opens". Playgroundtothestars.com.
  32. ↑ https://www.jazzageclub.com/the-classy-ciros-restaurant-chain/370/
  33. ↑ "The Bing Boys Are Here". The Sunday Times (Sydney) . No. 1663. New South Wales, Australia. 2 December 1917. p. 17. Retrieved 8 June 2022– via National Library of Australia.
  34. ↑ "London Night Club". The Telegraph (Brisbane) . No. 13, 732. Queensland, Australia. 25 November 1916. p. 6. Retrieved 8 June 2022– via National Library of Australia.
  35. ↑ "Topical Talk". The Australian Worker . Vol. 25, no. 50. New South Wales, Australia. 14 December 1916. p. 12. Retrieved 8 June 2022– via National Library of Australia.
  36. ↑ "Night Club Struck Off Register". The Age . No. 19, 268. Victoria, Australia. 22 December 1916. p. 7. Retrieved 8 June 2022– via National Library of Australia.
  37. ↑ "Plays & Players". The Weekly Times . No. 2, 684. Victoria, Australia. 15 January 1921. p. 35. Retrieved 8 June 2022– via National Library of Australia.
  38. ↑ Drury, John. Dining in Chicago, New York: The John Day Company, 1931, pp. 90-92
  39. ↑ https://www.chicagoancestors.org/place/ciros-grill

51°30′36″N0°07′48″W / 51.510°N 0.130°W / 51.510; -0.130

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.