St John's Wood's famous Harry Morgan restaurant closes
Lilian Fawcett
The Harry Morgan counter - Credit: Polly Hanock
Restaurant and New York City-style deli Harry Morgan has closed its doors for good after 73 years, citing a dispute over rent.
Since the start of the pandemic, Harry's manager Antonio Franco said the restaurant and deli had been closed or trading at just 40% of potential revenue.
“We didn’t decide to close [permanently], it’s a question of a negotiation over rent not going right with the landlord, since last year,” said Antonio.
He said landlord Trophaeum Advisers “doesn’t want to negotiate any reductions or some rent holiday, for the time, the months, the year we’ve been trading very, very badly".
The failed negotiations meant Harry Morgan closed permanently on Tuesday night.
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“We are still trying to get back to our feet,” Franco said. “Everybody is feeling down.”
The restaurant and deli, famed for its salt beef sandwiches, chicken soup and cheesecake, has been serving traditional Jewish food since 1948.
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Karen Molloy, who grew up in St John’s Wood and was a regular customer, said she was “really shocked, really upset and sad” to learn of the closure.
“It was a community in that people used to go there with their families,” she said. “Children, young children, parents, grandparents. It really was a generational place.”
Celebrity priest and former pop star Reverend Richard Coles tweeted: “This is very bad news indeed.”
Journalist and restaurant critic Marina O'Loughlin tweeted: “Vv sad news about Harry Morgan's."
Trophaeum has been approached for comment.
