Eating Well is the Best Revenge

Abel Giandolini opened the original Ivy restaurant in 1917 as an unlicensed Italian in the West End. The Ivy has since blossomed into a restaurant popular among celebrities and theatergoers. It has expanded into locations across the United Kingdom and Ireland, known as the Ivy Collection. According to legend, the restaurant’s name originated from a remark actress Alice Delysia made. She overheard Giandolini apologize to a customer for the inconvenience caused by building works. When he said that it was because he intended to create a restaurant, she interjected, “Don’t worry – we will always come and see you. ‘We will cling together like the ivy'”, a line from the then-popular song “Just Like the Ivy I’ll Cling to You.”