Its frosted glass half-partitions, its aged leather banquettes, its bar mirrors covered in gilt, cherubs and horns of plenty spoke of a confident and ordered world that was in satisfying contrast to the ruined street.
The Cuckoo’s Calling, Robert Galbraith
The Tottenham, which has now reverted to its earlier name of The Flying Horse, dates back to the eighteenth century and is the only pub on Oxford Street. It is where Strike goes to think away away from the distractions of the office and in The Cuckoo’s Calling, where he goes to drink after hearing about his ex-fiancée’s engagement. He interviews contractor Sam Barclay there, uses it as a retreat from the press and finds Robin at the bar after she’s had a vicious fight with Matthew during the Chiswell investigations (Lethal White). It’s an extension of the office, a place of comfort, business and leisure.
The pub is a jewel and a rare survival of a traditional Victorian gin palace. The interior is painted and panelled, with a stained glass cupola and wall paintings by Felix de Jong. The artist, a master decorator born in Antwerp, had a reputation designing the interiors of the lavish music halls and early cinemas at the end of the nineteenth century and beginning of the 20th. Strike contemplates his voluptuous nymph, showering rose petals, as he drinks his Doombar the day after his disastrous fight with Charlotte.
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