Celebrating at Simpson's
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Step through the doors of Simpson's-in-the-Strand on any given evening in the 1890s, and you'd enter a world thick with cigar smoke, candlelight, and the low murmur of London's gentlemen at their leisure. Famed for its "in-the-Strand" tradition, the restaurant's great joints of beef and saddles of mutton were wheeled tableside on massive silver-domed trolleys, carved with theatrical precision by white-aproned carvers whose knives seemed almost ceremonial.
The air carried the rich scent of roasted meat, Yorkshire pudding, and horseradish sauce, mingling with the clink of silver on porcelain and the rustle of the day's newspapers — for Simpson's had begun life as a chess and coffee house, and gentlemen still lingered over the Times between courses, debating politics, cricket scores, and the latest sensational headlines. Chapter 22 of Watson & Doyle, Part 1 let's you experience Simpson's through the eyes of Arthur Conan Doyle and Dr. John H. Watson. Press play below to listen. If you like what you hear, the full audiobook is available for download — just click the DOWNLOAD button under the image of the cover. |
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