Jean/Maureen

Simpson’s Tavern | 42y

This year Jean and Maureen will celebrate their 42nd year at Simpson’s Tavern in the City of London.

Maureen is in charge of the tiny bar in the pub’s ground floor grill restaurant, while Jean rules the roost in the downstairs bar. They remember the days when the ceramic-housed open fire (still in situ upstairs) churned out platters of steaks and chops to window-dress the clear glass of the front room, soon to be devoured by the hordes of hungry bankers. Now only cheerful banter and more private gobbling can be glimpsed through the etched, frosted glass.

Otherwise the tavern, London’s oldest chophouse, hasn’t changed much at all over the years and the dining room still retains a Victorian feel: old features such as brass rails to hold the top hats of City workers remain in place.

Maureen tells me that in the days when the licensing laws prevented 3:00 - 5:30pm drinking, people would come in to share a sneaky bottle of port and the famous stewed cheese. One particular policeman was always trying to catch them in the act and, on the day of his retirement, he walked past and saw the perpetrators at it once again. He ran next door to telephone the Liverpool Street police station but by the time they came over, everyone had hidden the booze and had moved on to coffee!