I have been going to the Ritz for so long that my first lunch there cost three guineas (There’s nothing else like it’: the Ritz is crowned best restaurant in the UK, 14 June). The visitor from San Francisco who remarked that it is “a place where people want to put on airs” is right: and I rejoice that it is so. I want to dress formally, be in the company of others who have been obliged to make a sartorial effort and be served by waiters impeccably turned out, who treat me as if I were someone of importance.
It is theatre. Of course it is. How dull life would be without such magical make-believe. The Ritz has lifted my spirits regularly for 60 years. I hope to be sipping Earl Grey in its exquisite palm court until the time comes for me to go to that great hostelry in the sky – which I am just hoping will be as grand as the Ritz.
Francis Bown
London
