A reader emails me about the German restaurant Schmidt’s that used to be on Charlotte St (ie the real Charlotte st. in central London). Schmidt’s was pretty famous in its day and frequented, I think, by T.S. Eliot and various writers & journalists. ( A quick Google search reveals that the first edition of
Socialist Register was launched there in 1964 ). But anyway, my email correspondent is interested in any information or anecdotes about the place. I know some CS readers are familiar with that area of London as it is and was, so do drop him a line if you have anything: londonleben@mac.com
71 comments:
Oh Schmidt's. Oh yes. I was a frequenter in my teens. It was the only place in London in the late fifties, early sixties where you could get an authentic wurst and mild German mustard. After my visit to East Germany (yes, really) in 1957, aged eleven, I got addicted to the various forms of the German sausage which at that time you couldn't easily get in England. My parents knew of Schmidt's, took me there, and so I became a regular as soon as I was old enough to get myself into town on my own or with friends. Wasn't it nobbut a cocksstride from Bertorelli's? And over the road in the last sixties, didn't the WRP have a bookshop?
Elena's L'Etoile, also on Charlotte Street, was meant to be TS Eliot's favourite restaurant. It still exists with photos of many of the people who've been there all over the walls, and Elena has a reputation for telling stories about her famous and not so famous guests, if she's in the mood. The food is expensive but decent.
Schmidt's infamous as having the rudest waiting staff in London.
Oh my gosh I can taste the Hungarian Goulash they used to make and they made the best Black Forest Gateaux we always bought one at Christmas
Oh my gosh I can taste the Hungarian Goulash they used to make and they made the best Black Forest Gateaux we always bought one at Christmas
i spent six weeks in london in the summer of 1971 and schmidt's became my favorite place to eat. the food was great, the price VERY reasonable and i seem to remember that the meals were served on stainless steel platters rather than plates. i also remember that most everything i ordered came with an order of red cabbage. the rather gruff demeanor of the servers reminded me in a very familiar way of the old men that served food in many of the old delicatessens in new york city where i grew up.
I worked in Schmidt's Restaurant for about half a year in 1974. Being closed in the war (for obvious reasons), the place, even in those days, still had a very Germany 1920's feel to it. One day someone even filmed the entire shop with its almost Weimar Republic clientele and staff. I do have quite a few memories about this odd little London "jewel".
Sometime in the early sixties (1962? 63?) I spent the summer in London and on my last night I went to Schmidt's with a friend before we returned to school in the country. We knew it was reputed to have the rudest waiters in town, but it was also really cheap and we were out of funds. We each spent our last ten bob on schnitzel, but when we had paid we realised we only had a tanner left for a tip; we poked it under a saucer hoping to get out before the waiter found it. No such luck. We were halfway across the room when he raised the saucer,and with an expert flick of his little white towel sent the sixpence flying after us. "You sink ve are SLAVES?" he said, with great contempt.
Schmidt’s…. Ribbentrop (the German Ambassador) used to eat there, and when war broke out they put cup a large notice in their window stating that “Our boy too is in the army” or words to that effect….. but didn’t say which army! (from Leslie Baruch Brent).
And I remember in my childhood their marzipan sandwiches, impressively in the shape of egg on toast!!
I'll never forget Schmidts because I often relied on it for Sunday lunch when visiting my friend Mike who lived fairly near. The food was good, the price was right and the place always had a few interesting people dining. But if you stepped out of line you could certainly incur the wrathe of the waiters. The famous/infamous TEA CLUB of the South East Essex Technical College (late the Regional Technical College, then Polytechnic, now part of the University of East London) used also to have its annual evening dinner there. Much enjoyed by all.
They had tablecloths in the late fifties. Just had to watch that you hadn't got too "attached" when you went to the toilet. Otherwise you brought more than the house down.
great place for lunch in the early 70s goulash was unbeatable schnitzel and proper German cakes .anyone remember the deli lady with the moustash?
I don't remember the deli lady with the moustache, but I do remember -- perhaps late 60s, early 70s, the woman who say at the cashier's post in the restaurant and she had a beard
Perfect place to eat and buy continental food in the early 1971one. Staff was the best because I was one of them.
Sorry I am a bit late for comments but one more. Thank's a lot for my special customers from Brighton and Hove. Times are gone long time ago.
This was one of the favourite eating places of the spy Donald Maclean and his biographer Roland Philipps says it was the place he chose for his last meal in London before defecting.
My father worked there in the late 50's
My father worked in Schmidt's in the late 50's and I can remember going there in the 60's.
Yes I rember going there when I started work in 1963 it took ages for the food to arrive and they brought it in under steel covers and was always cold. The restaurant was huge with timber floors so it sounded like the goon show as they shuffled in with the food. So much fun!!
I remember going to Schmidts with my husband (a Berliner) in the 60s.... and I loved it. Seem to think Mrs Schmidt was still about in the shop those days. I still have a very tattered German paperback Cook Book which I bought at that time.... would like to be able to pick up another copy if it is still in print..it had some brilliant recipes. Unfortunately I have lost the front cover so difficult to trace.....if anyone knows the name of it I would appreciate it..,.. When did it actually close down ?
Tomo...the lady with the moustache I think was Mrs (Frau) Schmidt... well thats who I was told she was...
my grandfather, frederick schmidt, & grandmother, Betty Schmidt owned & ran Schmidts. Marie Schmidt (grandads sister) was the lady with the moustache. sometimes working on the deli & sometimes on the till, in the centre of the shop. I used to fill shelves there ,as a child, until the sad death of my grandfather & closing down Schmidts. Thanks to all the staff who worked there & remember it fondly.
My mother, Herta Schacherl, says thank you to all for your memories you shared. She worked up in the office 1964 to 1966. Now she is in her late 70s. She remembers Schmidt's with fondness and all her colleagues there.
Lunch at Schmidt's is one of my favourite early childhood memories and one of the few with my grandfather. He who would take my father, my brother and I there for special occasions. Vivid memories of the huge silver (stainless steel) platters.
Thank you.
On being in the delicatessen chocolate shop in Ludlow, I was reminded of my sisters and my Friday treat, throughout the early 60,s, which was a marzipan pig from Shmitts, and so I thought Id look the shop up...
I grew up around Schmidts from the mid 50's until it's demise in the 70's. My Dad worked there alongside Freddy, Betty, Teddy and Marie Schmidt for 25 years or more working his way up from orphaned POW to GM/2IC.
As soon as I hit my teens I worked Saturdays in the Deli serving Frankfurters , home baked rolls and fresh mustard to hungry shoppers and passers by. My childhood witnessed scores of celebrities and interesting people passing through from all facets of society,ethnic and religious backgrounds. How London could usefully use such an eating/meeting place today !!
It truly opened my eyes and dleft an indelible but happy mark on my formative years and I'm grateful to have been a very small part of it.
Hi Maya
My father was Niklaus Steffen who worked at Schmidts from the 50's through to the 70's on the management side. I remember in 1964 when I was 11, seeing 2 x girls from the office rushing around very excitedly saying they'd just seen Paul Mcartney in the restaurant and they had managed yo get tickets (not sure where from) for Top of the Pops on BBC TV !!
Schmidts was a magnet for people from all backgrounds. It was a pleasure and privilege to grow up around such an iconic London venue.
Every Christmas and special occasion my father would visit the deli and bring home the most amazing assortment of wursts, rye bread and pickles (1960s-80s). Such fond memories and very special for my grandmother who was a Berliner. Remembering him and my grandmother Eva today.
Yes, Christmas at Schmidts was always an integral part of the festive London build up in the 50's and 60's and an extremely busy time for my father and the Schmidts team.
Customers never ceased with last minute orders and on Christmas morning 1963 I made a round trip, Croydon Schmidts Richmond Croydon to deliver same
My mum's mum's best friend was the lady with the mustache.
I googled Schmidt's sitting here listening to my mum reminiscing about the place in the early to mid 50s.
Sounds like she's got very fond memories. Rosemary Hopkin as was then.
My elder brother told me about Schmidt's, and I was intrigued. In January 1965, when I was 15, I went up to London with two or three friends for Winston Churchill's funeral and, at my instigation, we decided to go to Schmidt's for lunch afterwards. It was unforgettable - a great (affordable) lunch, initially 'difficult' but ultimately friendly waiters, a steamy interior and a pervasive aroma of sauerkraut. We drank good beer, and after lunch I smoked a large Havana cigar I'd purloined from my brother. What joy! And what a shame the restaurant's not there any more, especially as there are very few German or Austrian restaurants in London.
Ah Schmidt;s - my friend and I visited London many times from 1971 to about 1975, stayed in the Bedford Corner Hotel on Tottenham Court Road & Bayley Street, and frequently ate at Schmidt's. The schnitzel and Schwarzwalder Kirschtorte are emblazoned in my memory. Many great meals there. We spent the month of February 1972 at the Bedford Corner and ate at Schmidt;s regularly. Also at the Spaghetti House on Goodge Street. And trying to remember the name of a small, hole-in-the-wall italian place across Tottenham Ct Rd from the hotel - does anyone know?
My Godfather was married to Corinne Schmidt. My recollections are totally different. I adored the store and the restaurant, which was scrupulously clean. The food was delicious and the staff lovely.
I loved the German sausage . salami etc
Maybe it was easier for me as my father was German so the food was familiar to me.
The deli lady was a Schmidt!
Diana Kessler,
I have been trying to get in touch with Peter or any of your family.
I'd love to catch up.
Kind regards,
Marianne Powles ( Jungheim )
My late mother was German and just before Christmas as a family we made the annual pilgrimage to Schmidt’s to stock up on festive goodies and eat in the restaurant. That was in the 1960’s and in the early 1970’s I often went there with friends for lunch on Saturday. Old fashioned cutlery, crisp white table linen and great food at reasonable prices. I don’t think the staff were particularly rude and remember a very friendly and elderly waiter who I think lived in Hounslow and commuted on a scooter. Anyone remember him?
My grandmother was some sort of relative of the Schmidt family ( I still need to find out the relationship.) We knew Frederick, Betty, Teddy, Marie and Corinne Schmidt through their relationship with my grandmother, who had spent many evenings there as a young woman some time between 1910 and 1920. I remember going there a few times; the silver platters, the white cloths, the deli with the sausage and wurst. We were given a beautiful gingerbread house at Christmas time and when Teddy visited my family, he always brought some leberwurst and fleischwurst. Later, in 1974 when I was studying German, I visited the shop in Charlotte Street at my grandmother's request, as I was about to go on a student exchange to Würzburg university, and Marie told me that this area, Franken, was where her family were from. I would love to hear from anyone who has any other details.
I worked in the main store in 1958-1959 I was on the sausage section, right next to the smoked salmon. There were still many Schmidt family members working there. They had, what today would seem like an incredible paying system. A customer would get a slip with the amount on it, and then pay at the central cash and with this could take away the purchase. There was no control what so ever. Yes, the restaurant food was excellent and packed every day.I live in Canada now and often think back to that time and place. There was a great Pub around the bach selling scrumpy cider. On the evening shift we would nip out for a pint. Peter Blackmore ( pjbcalpe@gmail.com )
I used to go there when I was a student in the early 60's.
Loved the place. There was a special dish called Khalsbax a la Bourgoisi or something like that. It was a fabulous knuckle of lamb.
Absolutely delicious. I remember it so well. yes the waiters were rude but it was part of the atmosphere.
Edward.
Edward: Kalbshaxe?
I remember the Spaghetti House. We used to go there sometimes on pay day. We worked in Maple Street. It was always busy. My introduction to Italien food.
I worked in the next street in the early sixties of all the restaurants in Charlotte St Schmidts was the only
place we could afford on a lowly salary. The managers went to L’etoile or Wheelers. Just loved the
cheesecakes and schnitzels, one of my workmates had Jugged Hare once, did not like the look of that.
The Spaghetti House was in Goodge St, still is I think.
Thank you for starting this particular blog and collecting together so many interesting memories. Schmidts was a favourite place for my family. This was either via my paternal grandmother who grew up at 18 Percy Street nearby where her father ran "The Tate Gallery" and practised gilding restoration and framing, or from my paternal grandfather who worked as a buyer for the society restaurant Frascati Anyway like others here I have childhood and teenage memories from the 50s to the late 60s. I had a sense of loss when I found it had closed. Every aspect of the place was a part of the adventure of going to eat there. I recall the well aged wooden panelling and creaking floorboards, the food that came encased in silver plated servers also so worn by age and the incredibly extensive delicatessen whose exotically savoury smells you passed through to reach the restaurant. It was the place I took my future wife on our first date and we were served by a wonderful waiter of advanced years who told us with pride of his son. And the Schwarzwalder Kirschtorte! I have wanted to find the recipe - can the family connections here help?
My fathers favorite London Restaurant. Remember going there several times in the early 70´s and sitting in high backed benches.
Wow! Corrine was my grandma.
My parents had their wedding breakfast at Schmidtr on 2 September 1952. My father took me there for schnitzel in1967.
My parents also had their wedding breakfast at Schmidts on June 19th 1948. I still have the menu that they kept all those years.
I remember dragging my mother to Schmidt's several times during our two-week vacation in London in 1968. I was a ten year old Canadian and mysteriously attracted to German culture and history. My most vivid memory was the wonderful, chaotic ballet of the servers with what seemed like impossibly large trays of food and beer careening between tables and up and down a staircase. Brilliant!
Hallo ich kannte Corrine und Heinz Kessler. Hier meine Mail: an.miranda@gmx.de
Mein Vater auch (Horst Abramowski). Hier meine Mailadresse: an.miranda@gmx.de
Hallo, ich kannte Corrine und Heinz Kessler. (An.miranda@gmx.de)
Hallo, ich kannte die Familie Heinz, Corrine (geb. Schmidt), Peter, Linda und Tony Kessler. Meine Mailadresse: an.miranda@gmx.de
My school friend Robert Simon and his amazing father who drove a massive car with just one arm took me to see Dr.No at a cinema nearby and then we all dined at Schmidt's stunning restaurant afterwards.I lost track of Simon when he went to Embley Park and I went to Papplewick shortly after that great outing. Tonight I watched a DVD of Dr.No and it was pure nostalgia for a time I was 11 years old and a lost friend.
I loved going to Schmidt's as treat with my parents between 1957 and 1968. I loved the place, the staff, watching the mellee of customers and staff, the smell of the place and best of all the food, both in Restaurant and the Delicatessen where we bought all the sweet goodies we were allowed to take home to Ramsgate.
I thought in the early fifties, when I was a teenager,that Schmidt’s was the best place in the West End. It was infinitely superior to the French restaurants that dominated the area. I used to go with my grandfather. My mother said he guaranteed some borrowings.by old Herr Schmidt between the wars. This after he discovered that the had both been infantrymen on the Western Front and would reminisce that it was the politicians and generals who were the real enemy. The men at the front were brothers in arms. I recollect in the last days Schmidt’s expanded into larger premises at the North end of Charlotte Street and then seemed to mysteriously disappear
After the war my parents lived in a flat above Shimidt’s in Charlotte st and my brother who is 90 now told me of the time the police came and arrested the guy who lived in the flat opposite after it was discovered he was a spy!
I visited the restaurant in the late 1970’s and had a meal there. We went regularly there so it couldn’t of been that bad.
I remember Schmidt's from my student days at UCL in the early 60s. A friend of mine and I went there several times for lunch. He was quite the linguist (for example he picked up a working knowledge of spoken Persian, as it was in those days, after only 6 weeks in the country). So one day he decided to order in German, much to the consternation of the waiter, who explained he was Italian and didn't speak a words of the language!
The aforementioned Lady was mrs Schmidt!. We drove from Hertford on a Friday to eat and then to a beer Keller. Happy unbeatable times . Paul Fletcher.
Master Draper is the only one to mention the restaurants move to larger premises at the North end of Charlotte St … I used to go there in the 1970’s it was rather cavernous with huge columns … I think it may be the site now occupied by the Charlotte St Hotel at 15-17 Charlotte St… I am invited to the the hotel for lunch next week which is how I arrived at his fascinating blog!
My father and his brother grew up with the Schmidts, lived nearby and went to school with Teddy etc. When I was about 12 years old, in 1969, my family went to Schmidt’s to see Teddy and his family. I remember the beautiful interior, colorful, noisy, busy, redolent of unknown smells. The family was warm and friendly and made us feel special. Can’t remember the food, just the atmosphere and feeling of joy.
Thank you for putting this blog up. I am Diana Kessler. 4th child of Corinne Kessler (nee Schmidt) & Heinz Kessler. I also helped out at the weekends,sometimes, filling shelves in the shop. I was only 14 years old(1974) when my Grandfather died & Schmidts started to close it's doors. Unfortunately his wife,Betty Schmidt died in 1976. It's been lovely to hear all the comments from previous staff & customers. Thankyou all for your loyalty.
The Deli lady was a Miss Schmidt and I remember a customer approached her and said excuse me Sir and then realised she was wearing a skirt and quickly said "or Madam"
I loved Schmidt's as a child and I well remember the disappointment when it closed.
I started writing a diary in 1974 and Schmidt's is mentioned in my very first diary entry. Fifty years later, I have published that entry together with commentary and a link to this wonderful blog page about Schmidt's.
https://ianlouisharris.com/1974/01/05/i-diarist-my-first-diary-page-1-to-5-january-1974/
It was such a pleasure to find this page - thank you for blogging about Schmidt's and generating so much chat about it.
I worked in the area in 1974 - surely Schmidt's was at the end of RATHBONE PLACE not Charlotte Street? And it WAS renowned for the rudest waiters in London.
100% sure it was Charlotte Street in 1974, Wolstan Dixie. The following Twitter/X link has an image of the menu stating 33/43 Charlotte Street, on the corner of Rathbone Street, which might be why you retain "Rathbone" in your memory. The waiters were always polite and sweet with me, but then I was such a cute kid ;-) : https://x.com/Guide2Londonbks/status/1414243355094102018
Everyone is right on Schmidt’s location. The original restaurant was in Charlotte Street and only moved in the late sixties, early seventies to much larger glitzier premises in Rathbone Place. This was self-evidently an over ambitious move as the restaurant did not survive very long in its new location.
Strange how fallible memory is, yes thus:
www.flickr.com/photos/rogerjmorgan/53940112502
It had a return to Rathbone St, and presumably a side entrance - my God, it was huge!
The Schmidts corner block on Charlotte Street/Rathbone Place had 2 entrances, the main one through the delicatessen on Charlotte Street into the heart of the ground floor restaurant where there was also a creamery and a creaky wooden staircase leading to the first floor restaurant and 2nd floor function rooms. There was also a well used side entrance on Rathbone Place which used to keep the floorwalkers on their toes !! Being a redeveloped site from the 50's there was also a modern entrance and staircase on Charlotte St leading to all floors including the offices and accomodation on the the top level. I remember watching from the roof the demolition of the entire row of old shops and tenements on the opposite side of Rathbone Place which of course gave way to the hotel which is still there I believe ?
We've tried to email you at an.miranada@gmx,de but have not go a reply.
Pleased to come across this one today. I have fond memories of the place from the early 1970s.
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