Friar’s Cellar Menu
Date1962-1991
Dimensions27.9 x 55.9 cm (11 x 22 in.)
Credit LineGift of Marvin Simner, London, Ontario, 2015.
Object number2015.052.001
Label TextThe proprietors of the tavern this menu hails from were premier restaurateurs of their generation, keeping Londoners well fed and happy for more than fifty years. For years after the Escaf family had emigrated from Lebanon, the family operated Wellington Tavern. After the eldest son, Eddie, graduated with a business degree from Western University, together with his brother, the two renovated the basement of the very same building opening Friar’s Cellar in 1962. The stone-walled dining lounge, resembling a European wine cellar, quickly became a London landmark, remembered fondly into the present day by many London residents. Eddie loved food as much as he loved people, said to have never let a tray of hors d’oeuvres go without sampling. Interesting to note is the struggle with which Eddie was met in obtaining a liquor license and his actions in involved in a tenacious fight to reform the province’s liquor laws, aided by one of his customers, then-premier John Robarts. Preserving the memory of his restaurant, in particular through its menu, is important to documenting the entrepreneurial and cultural stories of London’s history.
Eddie himself is a notable London figure. He became a local celebrity as a regular on a charades game show on CFPL-TV in the 1960s, he was director and later president of the Ontario Hotel and Motel Association, and he was also involved in the London Little Theatre, staying on as director for about 20 years after the organization turned professional. Beyond this, he supported local artists and brought his business expertise to the boards of both Museum London and Orchestra London.
A fire in 1991 brought an end to the family restaurants at the corner of Wellington and Bathurst Street, yet among Londoners, their memory of good food and good community lives on, and can continue to do so by the preservation and display of this acquisition.
NameMenu
CopyrightPhoto Credit: Toni Hafkenscheid
