The oldest place to eat an oyster.
George William Wilton first opened his shellfish mongers close to Haymarket in 1742. The restaurant was established some 100 years later and gained quite a following.
It was sold in 1942 when the neighbouring St James Church was hit by a German bomb. The scared owner Bessie Leal decided she no longer wanted to live in London. She asked a regular customer if he wanted to buy it. The customer Olaf Hambro of Hamro Bank asked Bessie to add the restaurant to his bill. A great investment as it was exempt from rationing in WWII, perhaps as it was Churchill’s favourite