Gunter's Tea Shop was an establishment in London's

Berkeley Square Berkeley Square is a garden square in the West End of London. It is one of the best known of the many squares in London, located in Mayfair in the City of Westminster. It was laid out in the mid 18th century by the architect William Kent, ...

. It had its origins in a food business named "Pot and Pine Apple" started in 1757 by Italian Domenico Negri. Various English, French and Italian wet and dry sweetmeats were made and sold from the business. In 1777,

James Gunter James Gunter (25 July 1731 – 19 September 1819) was an English confectioner, market gardener and property developer who laid the foundations for what became one of the great residential estates in West London, developed by his descendants, the " ...

became Negri's business partner, and by 1799 he was the sole proprietor. In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries Gunter's became a fashionable light eatery in

Mayfair Mayfair is an area of Westminster, London, England, in the City of Westminster. It is in Central London and part of the West End. It is between Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly and Park Lane and one of the most expensive districts ...

, notable for its ices and sorbets. In 1815, James sent his son Robert (1783–1852) to study the confectionery trade in Paris. Robert assumed sole control of the business following his father's death in 1819, and took on his cousin John as a partner in 1837. Along with Bolland's of Chester and W G Buszard, Gunter's was considered to be the wedding cake makers du jour and in 1889, made the bride cake for the marriage of

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

's granddaughter, Princess Louise of Wales. The policewoman Barbara Bell describes Gunter's in the 1930s as a place where she could pick up wealthy lesbian women for affairs, saying, "I never did, but I had plenty of opportunity. The little waitress would come over and say, 'The lady over there- would you like to join her for tea at her table?'" Gunter's was located at Nos. 7–8

. When the east side of the square was demolished in 1936–7, it moved to

Curzon Street Curzon Street is a street in Mayfair, London, within the W1J postcode district, that ranges from Fitzmaurice Place, past Shepherd Market, to Park Lane. It is named after Sir Nathaniel Curzon, 2nd Baronet, who inherited the landholding during ...

. The tea shop closed in 1956, although the catering business continued for another twenty years.

In popular culture

Georgette Heyer Georgette Heyer (; 16 August 1902 – 4 July 1974) was an English novelist and short-story writer, in both the Regency romance and detective fiction genres. Her writing career began in 1921, when she turned a story conceived for her ail ...

Regency Romance Regency romances are a subgenre of romance novels set during the period of the British Regency (1811–1820) or early 19th century. Rather than simply being versions of contemporary romance stories transported to a historical setting, Regency r ...

novels, Gunter's were mentioned frequently as the suppliers of refreshments and wines to the main characters' households. In

Mary Seacole Mary Jane Seacole (;Anionwu, E. N. (2012), "Mary Seacole: nursing care in many lands". ''British Journal of Healthcare Assistants'' 6(5), pp. 244–248. 23 November 1805 – 14 May 1881) was a British Nursing, nurse and Women in business ...

's autobiography she states that even Gunter would have envied her reputation for the sponge cakes that she provided for the British army besieging

Sebastopol Sevastopol ( ), sometimes written Sebastopol, is the largest city in Crimea and a major port on the Black Sea. Due to its strategic location and the navigability of the city's harbours, Sevastopol has been an important Port of Sevastopol, por ...

in the

Crimean War The Crimean War was fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the Ottoman Empire, the Second French Empire, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861), Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont fro ...

. Gunter's is the eponymous meeting place in Pamela Haines' 1974 novel 'Tea at Gunter's'. The shop is also the setting for a brief scene in

Bernard Cornwell Bernard Cornwell (born 23 February 1944) is an English author of historical novels and a history of the Waterloo Campaign. He is best known for his long-running series of novels about Napoleonic Wars rifleman Richard Sharpe. He has also writ ...

's novel '' Gallows Thief'', taking place in 1817. The cafe appears to be referenced in

Graham Greene Henry Graham Greene (2 October 1904 – 3 April 1991) was an English writer and journalist regarded by many as one of the leading novelists of the 20th century. Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene acquired a re ...

’s novel

The End of the Affair ''The End of the Affair'' is a 1951 novel by British author Graham Greene, as well as the title of two feature films (released in 1955 and 1999) that were adapted from the novel. Set in London during and just after the Second World War, the no ...

, in the 2-shilling expense line item that the private eye Parkis submits to Bendrix. “The coffee place was more expensive than I cared for,” Parkis explains, “but it was the least I could take without drawing attention.” In Patrick O'Brian's

The Letter of Marque ''The Letter of Marque'' is the twelfth historical novel in the Aubrey–Maturin series by Patrick O'Brian, first published in 1988. The story is set during the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812. Aubrey faces life off the Navy List, as the ...

, Gunter's staff were hired for a private dinner party by Sir Joseph Blaine, head of British intelligence, who was particularly keen to impress his guests. In the first episode of the television series

The House of Eliott ''The House of Eliott'' is a British television series produced and broadcast by the BBC in three series between 31 August 1991 and 6 March 1994. The series starred Stella Gonet as Beatrice Eliott and Louise Lombard as Evangeline Eliott, two s ...

, the protagonists -- two sisters who, in 1920, have lost their seemingly affluent father and whose solicitor has told them that they'll be comfortably off -- have tea at Gunter's.

References

1757 establishments in England 1970s disestablishments in England British companies established in 1757 Companies based in the City of Westminster Gunter family {{England-company-stub Lesbian history in the United Kingdom History of the pineapple