Restaurants like Cipriani were part of the regular lives of Strike’s father’s legitimate children.
The Cuckoo’s Calling, Robert Galbraith
It is at Cipriani that Strike finally gets to meet Tansy Bestigui, neighbour of Lula Landry. She meets him with his client John, and her sister Ursula in the art deco interior of the restaurant. Pulling Tansy’s story out of her takes some work, though Strike does also learn much interesting gossip as Tansy drinks too much, complains about the police and plays with her diamond rings. Luckily he finishes the interview, and his sticky toffee pudding, before the senior partner at John’s firm and Ursula’s husband, Cyprian May arrives, radiating threat and disapproval.
The restaurant is now called ‘C’ and was founded by the famous Cipriani family who were behind the legendary Harry’s Bar in Venice. It still serves some of the famous dishes invented in Harry’s Bar, including Carpaccio – made with thin slices of raw beef, and Bellini cocktails.
Davies Street is part of the vast Grosvenor estate. Sir Thomas Grosvenor in 1677 married the heiress Mary Davies who owned this large are of swampy land west of the city of London. The land was developed in the 18th century and became one of the richest and most fashionable areas of London, inhabited from its earliest days by ‘people of distinction’, including the mistress of George I. Davies street runs from Grosvenor Square to Oxford Street and is home to a number of high end art galleries, and the auctioneers Phillips.
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