A classic restaurant is like an old friend: Familiar, often endearingly imperfect, and a place you’ll defend at all costs. What makes a classic restaurant, well, classic, is rooted to the city it lives in. Some classics are old and dusty. Others are a bit weird. A few may have even changed the way people eat in London. Not every classic needs to have ancient history attached to it, and nor does it have to produce spectacular cooking. It can have great noodles but bad lighting, average lasagne and an amazing atmosphere. As long as it gives everyone that feeling—that indefinable rightness—well, then that’s what makes it a stone-cold classic.
Dining and Cooking