Mountain Grill

[Eric Siegerman]

On Fri, Feb 18, 2005 at 02:12:13PM +0100, Henderson Keith wrote:
> The place has changed names on occasion...it was George's Fish Bar when I
> first stopped by in 1986.  I think it's still called "George's" but now also
> uses the Mountain Grill in the name again.  ??

It was the last time I was there, with a bunch of list folk the
when we gathered for the XMas gig in 2000.  "George's Famous
Mountain Grill".  They must have switched it back after many
hawkfans stopped in to inquire :-)

On one of my visits, I overheard a regular calling a staffer by
name -- Maria.  Now, George and Maria are the names given for the
owners in "Time of the Hawklords".  (In the story, they're minor
heroes, who pitch in to keep the Good Guys (i.e.
band/superheroes and their roadies/sidekicks, etc.) fed while the
Death Generator crumbles the whole world to bits around
everyone's ears.)

It's a very strange feeling when a novel comes to life before
one's eyes!  (And not the first time, with that particular
novel....)

> But don't expect too
> much...it's not much of a historical landmark (though it should be).  Very
> small, kinda rundown (unless somebody's put some money into it) and not
> exactly fine dining.  :)

That's rather the point, isn't it?  I mean, HW went there because
it was close by, but Bowie's reason was presumably that it was a
place he could have a meal out without being thronged by fans.

I quite enjoyed the fact that after all the intervening years,
the only concession to the district's gentrification was an
espresso machine, and the only sign of any awareness of the
place's legendary (in certain odd circles :-)) status was the
"famous" on the sign.

> Update:  A quick websearch tells me the following...it's no longer George's,
> but now rather Babes 'n' Burgers...what a peculiar name.  Oh well, perhaps
> Stacia is the inspiration for the 'babe' part.  :)
> http://www.babesnburgers.com/

Well, I guess George & Maria have decided to retire.

Oddly, the domain exists:  http://www.mountaingrill.co.uk/ --
owned by someone apparently unrelated to the restaurant.  They
have a recording studio, where the Assassins of Silence recorded
a couple of songs.  Hmm, anyone we know? ....

Yup, and things turn out to be not so odd after all.  The
domain's registered to one-time BOC-L'er Kevin Perry.  Nik's site
preserves what looks like an older version of the copy from the
home page:
    The original Mountain Grill was a Portobello Road (London)
    working man's cafe in the late 1960's and early 1970's,
    frequented by the likes of Hawkwind®, Michael Moorcock, David
    Bowie and Marc Bolan. The idea behind this site is much the
    same: ...a place for creative people to discuss original
    music, poetry, literature...

Pic of the sign: http://www.mountaingrill.co.uk/images/mgtoday.jpg

--

|  | /\
|-_|/  >   Eric Siegerman, Toronto, Ont.        erics at telepres.com
|  |  /
The animal that coils in a circle is the serpent; that's why so
many cults and myths of the serpent exist, because it's hard to
represent the return of the sun by the coiling of a hippopotamus.
        - Umberto Eco, "Foucault's Pendulum"