Book description
From 1901 to 1967 this Dublin restaurant - so famous in its day that
letters simply addressed 'Jammet's, Europe' reached their destination
within a week - was the resort of actors, politicians, artists and
literati, film stars, judges, journalists, doctors, chancers and
characters, gourmets and oenophiles, who passed through its doors in
search of superb food and wine, or banter in the bars. Praised by Egon
Ronay for its 'space, grace and charm', the 'formidable list of
culinary delicacies' and the 'numerous, very great clarets', this
legendary French dining establishment had no peer in Ireland, and gave
occasion to many a tale: Jack B. Yeats, sketching a bucking horse on a
birthday menu; Liam O'Flaherty, giving rein to his; Patrick Kavanagh,
in search of a mistress; Maeve Binchy, celebrating her Leaving Cert.;
Garech Browne, watching Nicholas Gormanston rescue Seán O'Sullivan
from immersion in a bowl of pea-green soup; Micheál MacLiammóir, being
upstaged by one of the staff.
Pages from the Visitors' Book with its autographs are redolent of a
golden age: Maureen O'Hara, Bertie Smyllie, Bing Crosby, Judy Garland,
Maurice Jarre, Ingrid Bergman, Elizabeth Taylor, the Beverley Sisters.
John Lennon drew a self- portrait and commented, 'The other three are
saving up to come here!' Added to the visual mix are original menu
cards and recipes, a 200-strong wine list with suppliers and prices,
and fabulous foods: a rich iconography affording rare insights into
the social and cultural life of Dublin during the sixty-six years of
Jammet's treasured existence.
At the heart of this lively narrative is a truffle of memoir by Shay
Harpur, who rose from cloakroom attendant to sommelier in five short
years, and recounts a day-in-the-life of Jammet's with vivid
particularity. A closing essay by the late Patrick Campbell celebrates
the warmth and idiosyncracy of its famed back bar.
Alison Maxwell was raised in County Offaly, schooled at Sutton Park
in Dublin and completed an MA in Creative Writing from UCD in 2007. She
has three children and lives in County Kildare.
