London's Gaylord Celebrates Its 50th Anniversary
Gloriously monikered Gaylord is one of London's oldest Indian restaurants. This year they celebrated 50 years of fine Indian dining in their Fitzrovia location. Lavish events to mark the occasion featured VIPs in glittering saris, a psychedelic-robed guru, Nehru jackets, and sharp suits, and live Indian pop music.
Gaylord founder P L Lamba began his career selling icecream in Delhi. The chain he started is still family run and encompasses iconic Indian brand Kwality as well as Gaylords in London, Mumbai, Delhi, and beyond.
The restaurant's signature tipple is the saffrontini, a martini made from saffron-infused gin. Its kitchen specializes in Northern Indian cuisine, properly authentic, with the occasional twist. Delicacies featured at the 50th anniversary included the restaurant's signature fried lamb chops, morsels of stuffed paratha (fried flat bread) with mung daal, battered fish, and paneer tikka, cooked by a team of virtuoso Indian chefs.
This was the first place in the capital to light a tandoor (charcoal clay) oven, and specializes in this distinctive cooking, roasting meat, and fish rubbed in spices. It might be celebrating 50 years, but Gaylord feels like it will be around forever. As its comfort-food motto states 'tradition is always in'.