Peter Evans (restaurateur)

Peter Evans (28 December 1926 – 19 July 2014 in Frinton-on-Sea) was a restaurateur. Journalist Linda Blandford, writing in The Observer on 9 March 1975, described him as a pioneer of youth culture, opening one of Soho's first coffee bars called The Cat's Whisker. It became a popular spot where Tommy Steele performed. Evans also recognized the growing trend of dining out and established a chain of Aberdeen Angus Steak Houses and the Peter Evans Eating Houses, which were decorated by David Nightingale Hicks.

Evans initially started the Cat's Whisker coffee bar with Spanish dancing, but it soon transformed into a venue for skiffle and rock 'n roll. Due to limited space for dancing, the bar innovated hand-jiving.

Later, Peter collaborated with two other young creatives: David Hicks and architect Patrick Garnett of Garnett Cloughley and Blakemore. According to Malcolm Newell in his book "Mood and Atmosphere in Restaurants," they established the iconic decorative style that epitomized London during the Swinging Sixties, providing vibrant and trendy dining and dancing experiences for the affluent. The era witnessed a flourishing of fashion trends, including the influence of Twiggy, Biba, Mary Quant, Teddy Boys, Cecil Gee, John Stephen, and Carnaby Street. In 1965, Evans was recognized as the "Beau Brummell" Best Dressed Man by the Clothing Manufacturers' Federation.

In 1967, Evans launched the exclusive members-only Raffles nightclub on King's Road in Chelsea. Hicks's original design lasted until 2007 when new owners gave it a complete makeover. The club attracted notable figures of the Sixties, including Princess Margaret, Princess Anne, and Prince Charles. In more recent times, the younger generation of royals, including Prince William during his courtship of Kate Middleton and Prince Harry while pursuing Chelsy Davy, have also frequented the club.

Additionally, Hicks designed sets for Richard Lester's 1968 movie Petulia, starring Julie Christie, while Garnett's Chelsea Drugstore achieved fame in Stanley Kubrick's 1971 film A Clockwork Orange.

Early life
Peter Evans was born in Highgate, London. His father, Lionel Oliver Evans, was an inventor and builder.

After a brief education at Belmont, Mill Hill, Evans joined his father's business. However, an argument pushed him to seek new horizons, leading him to Ghana, West Africa. In Ghana, he found employment with the Daily Mirror's West African subsidiary, the Daily Graphic. He became their African correspondent and covered Wimbledon tennis events.

Eventually, Evans's dedication to tennis began to overshadow his work in insurance sales. Recognizing his lack of focus, his employers terminated his employment. He returned to London and joined forces with Roy Wallace-Dunlop, a self-confessed cigarette smuggler from Casablanca, to open one of the early coffee bars in the area called The Cat's Whisker. The establishment featured Spanish dancing and espresso as its main attractions.

However, their partnership did not succeed, prompting Evans to team up with the energetic Robin Eldridge. Eldridge proposed a change in direction by dropping the Spanish dancing and introducing something more "fresh." They installed a jukebox, followed by live music performances. The Cat's Whisker quickly became a popular destination for young people flocking to Soho to listen to Lonnie Donegan's skiffle music and Tommy Steele's lively rock 'n roll.

Due to limited space for dancing, The Cat's Whisker became the birthplace of the hand-jive dance style. This new dance move gained popularity, supported by various individuals, including the emerging filmmaker Ken Russell, who was a customer at The Cat's Whisker while building his reputation as a freelance photographer.

Restaurateur
After The Cat's Whisker was closed down by the police due to overcrowding, Peter Evans formed a partnership with accountant Tom Beale and butcher Reg Eastwood. Together, they established the first Angus Steak Houses at 1 Kingly Street, Soho, which was previously the location of The Cat's Whisker.

As the chain of steak houses expanded, the partnership with Beale and Eastwood dissolved, and Evans ventured on his own to create the Peter Evans Eating Houses. These establishments were located in various areas, including Fleet Street (equipped with a teleprinter), Chelsea, and Kensington. Evans enlisted the talents of David Hicks, a highly skilled young designer, and the architectural firm Garnett, Cloughley, and Blakemore. They were tasked with designing the PEEH restaurants. In 1967, Hicks designed Raffles, which emerged as one of Evans's most enduring creations, with only a small number of traditional and high-profile clubs from the Sixties surviving to this day.

Evans, Hicks, and Garnett were influential figures of the 1960s. The architectural firm GCB was responsible for iconic structures of that era. Their portfolio included the revolving restaurant atop the Post Office Tower (then the tallest building in London), fashionable boutiques on Chelsea's King's Road, such as the renowned Chelsea Drug Store, immortalized by the Rolling Stones in their song "You Can't Always Get What You Want." The Chelsea Drug Store was also featured as a set in Stanley Kubrick's film A Clockwork Orange (1971). Their projects extended to notable locations like the George V Hotel in Paris. Alongside his stylish restaurant designs, Hicks's creation of the distinctive fork logo garnered worldwide recognition for the Peter Evans Eating Houses.

In 1964, Evans collaborated with illustrator Willie Rushton on The Anti-Bull Cook-Book, published in hardback by Anthony Blond. Later, a paperback edition titled The Stag Cook Book: A Low Guide to the High Art of Nosh was released in February 1967 by The New English Library - Four Square.

Back to the pen
Peter Evans faced various challenges, including his divorce in October 1965 when divorces were only granted on grounds of "bad behavior." These pressures, among others, led him to sell his holdings to his banker, Norman Lonsdale, in 1969. After an extensive trip abroad, he eventually settled in Australia. In Brisbane, he met and married his second wife, journalist Gail Wintour, with Hugh Lunn, a well-known journalist and author, serving as their best man. During his time in Brisbane, Evans wrote the magic-comedy television series "The Martin St James Show" for The Reg Grundy Organisation on the 10 Network. He also wrote and presented a 13-part radio program titled "Earthquake," showcasing the best of modern music, for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

Later relocating to Sydney, Evans became a regular contributor to Scope, a weekly radio program that focused on the unusual, topical, and entertaining (which aired on the ABC for 18 years). He also freelanced for The Australian, a publication by News Corp, and The Bulletin, owned by Kerry Packer.

Unsatisfied with working for others, Evans returned to the UK and founded a merchant bank named Montgomery Evans. He attempted to repurchase the Peter Evans Eating Houses and the nightclub Raffles. However, Norman Lonsdale had already sold the group to G&W Walker, a commercial vehicle for boxing brothers Billy and George Walker. The Financial Times aptly summarized the situation with the headline: "Walker Brothers KO Peter Evans' Bid."

Feeling disillusioned with merchant banking, Evans returned to writing. He was commissioned by New English Library to write a book after presenting an idea. Growing concerned about population growth and the West's indifference to global hunger, he authored a prescient novel called "Megadeath." In the book, he highlighted the significant number of people already suffering from starvation and the detrimental impact of using food to feed animals instead of humans. Evans also predicted that methane production from billions of meat animals would become a tipping point for climate change.

After working as a consultant for a children's charity, Evans attempted to revive the concept of Peter Evans Eating Houses by updating it, but his efforts were unsuccessful. His early introduction of the 'fusion' food concept did not gain traction. Another chain venture called The Vertical Refreshment Company, which offered in-house games and discounted drinks in dynamic pub environments, showed promise initially but faced increasing opposition from brewers, leading to its downfall. Reflecting on this, Evans candidly remarked, "Brewers are greedy b******s, I'm afraid."

Publisher-writer
Seeking a life in the countryside, Peter Evans and his wife settled in rural Pembrokeshire. There, they authored a practical guide called "Guide To Village Riches," which offered insights and advice for those transitioning from city to country living. Drawing from his family background in medicine, Evans and his wife also wrote a series of e-books that explored drug-free treatments for common yet persistent ailments.

After experiencing insomnia following his divorce, Evans, recognizing the gendered impact of divorce, developed a unique method to regain his sleep. Writing under the pen name Zachariah Evans, he achieved global success with his groundbreaking work, "Sleeplessness Cured: The Drug-free, Quick and Proven Way," a solution empowering sufferers to take control of their sleep. This work earned him the prestigious 'Best Social Invention' award from the London Institute for Social Inventions in 1993. In 1994, Evans and his wife received an Honourable Mention from the same institute for their book "Cigarette Addiction Permanently Cured."

They have also published the findings of their extensive research on the validity of star signs.

Expressing disillusionment with present-day politicians, the couple is currently engaged in developing a viable model of governance that earnestly addresses and resolves pressing global challenges. Simultaneously, they aim to establish a foolproof system that safeguards taxpayer funds from misuse. Evans suggests that a practical approach to significant cost savings would involve permanently closing the Houses of Parliament, an expensive and redundant institution. He believes that video-conferencing technology eliminates the need for a physical Parliament and suggests that representatives should work and reside within their constituencies to effectively serve the people, without unnecessary expenditure.

The not-so-private life Thumbnails
At the height of its popularity, The Cat's Whisker became Coca-Cola's largest single customer in the UK, according to reports. However, in 1958, the police shut it down due to dangerous overcrowding. Shortly after, Peter Evans transformed the Soho coffee bar into the first Angus Steak House, offering "Supremely Succulent Scotch Steaks" at prices that wouldn't spoil anyone's appetite. Although there were three founders initially, their association began to unravel after an incident involving beer throwing.

Evans's contentious nature also led to a falling-out with his bankers, Kleinwort Benson Lonsdale. He discovered that the bank's representative on the board had intentions of taking over his role as chairman of PEEH (Peter Evans Eating Houses). In response, much to the bank's dismay, Evans decided to terminate the representative's employment.

In his private life, Evans indulged in extravagances such as Bentley motor cars, Turnbull & Asser shirts, Lobb shoes, and Savile Row suits. These luxuries were accompanied by high-stakes gambling and numerous romantic relationships, including one with the renowned diva Barbara Leigh. Unfortunately, these pursuits eventually led to his long-suffering wife, Yolanda, filing for divorce. During the divorce proceedings, Evans's QC, Billy Rees-Davis, revealed evidence from the family chauffeur, who claimed that Mrs. Evans and her mother disguised themselves to gather evidence of Evans's adultery. Evans expressed surprise at the dramatics, noting that obtaining evidence wasn't particularly difficult.

Among his card-playing acquaintances were notable figures like John Bingham (later known as Lord Lucan), who was a formidable stud poker player in London. Evans frequently fielded questions about Lucan's alleged involvement in the murder of Sandra Rivett in 1974, to which he vehemently denied any connection and opined that Lucan should come forward to prove his innocence. Another player in his circle was actor Roger Moore, who, despite his on-screen persona as Mr. Bond, did not quite possess the same poker mastery as Ian Fleming's fictional character.

Evans also engaged in poker games with journalists David Spanier and Peter Jenkins, painter David Hockney, writer Alan Williams, and impresario Michael White. Although these high-stakes players posed challenges, they could be defeated if nerves held and luck was on one's side. Evans occasionally played at John Aspinall's Clermont Club, where luck supposedly favored the house, as suggested in Douglas Thompson's book "The Hustler's" and Channel 4's documentary "The Real Casino Royale."

Evans had a falling-out with Aspinall due to alleged cheating at Clermont, but he later forgave him because of Aspinall's passion for animals, asserting that humans, rather than animals, would be the ones to destroy the planet.

In addition to his nightclub, new restaurants, dalliances, and gambling, Evans ventured into other investments. Alongside David Frost and Bryan Forbes, he temporarily took ownership of Private Eye magazine to help the publication overcome financial difficulties.

Evans also faced a significant challenge when a mutual acquaintance expressed interest in a multimillion-pound redevelopment project on one of his prime properties on King's Road. However, the third party withdrew from the project at a crucial stage due to financial troubles, which Evans and Frost discovered later. The acquaintance was Robert Maxwell.

Evans made headlines on various occasions. One notable incident involved his arrest during a board meeting, where he was handcuffed and taken to Savile Row police station for failing to pay parking tickets. While the incident caused a stir at the time, Evans later realized it played a role in his second marriage. It also led to a peculiar occurrence when Evans erected a sign for his Peter Evans Eating House near a church at the junction of Kensington High Street and Kensington Church Street. The positioning of the sign, with David Hicks's stylized PEEH fork pointing towards the church, drew disapproval from the church elders, generating newspaper headlines worldwide. However, Gail, the woman whom Evans had grown fond of in Australia, found the situation amusing when she read about it.