Bar Italia Jelsy (2023)
London ranges among the most expensive places in the world. Areas like Mayfair, Knightsbridge or Chelsea command prices ranging from £20,000 to £30,000 per square meter and year.
In the UK's capital’s West End district Soho, prices are a little lower, yet it seems to be a miracle that next to international shopping and restaurant brands an independent establishment like Bar Italia could survive for over 70 years.
Opened in 1949 by Lou and Caterina Polledri, the café quickly became a hangout for the Italian community in London. Over the years, the Italian-style bar gained cult status and was referenced on various occasions in popular culture.
Among others, UK rock band Pulp wrote a homage to Bar Italia on their 1995 album Different Class, which is considered one of the most (or, rather, the most) important Brit pop records ever and brought the band around Jarvis Cocker a Mercury Music Prize.
In more recent times a London band from the orbit of Dean Blunt named itself after the legendary café (and not after Pulp’s song as they made clear). While hardly anything was known about the outfit during the first couple of years of its existence, Nina Cristante, Jezmi Tarik Fehmi and Sam Fenton, the artists behind the band, came to the fore after signing to alt rock powerhouse Matador in 2023.
In doing so the trio might have lost its mysteriousness but none of its charm. Our fave from Bar Italia’s rapidly growing catalog: The relaxed “Jelsy”, a bluesy piece that sees all three band members sing in a singular call-and-response manner.
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