On 12 Jan 2011 at 1:20pm Brixtonbelle wrote:
Just heard the wonderful Seasons cafe is to close - lease problems apparently. Is it true ? I'm not a veggie, but I love that place and it's owner is so warm and welcoming and friendly. What a damn shame.
On 12 Jan 2011 at 1:30pm 'ere be monsters wrote:
Shame. Although it has gone through many metamorphosis since I used to go in there as a teenager. Can't remember the name of it in the late 60s. I think they wanted to retire anyway, it's not as if it was open all the time.
On 12 Jan 2011 at 3:26pm Clifford wrote:
I used to go there years ago. Then the portions got smaller, and smaller, and smaller until one day I was given a slice of nut roast on a saucer. I stopped going then and was surprised it managed to survive for so long.
On 12 Jan 2011 at 3:45pm Rookie wrote:
Who remembers the Polar Bear?
On 12 Jan 2011 at 3:45pm lewes trousers wrote:
Seasons, isn't it funny how some of these places only get a news profile when they are closing.
Seasons is older lewes, not one of these fancy arty cappucino touting, bad art hanging, used to be a greengrocer type places and veggie too.
"April is the cruellest month, breeding Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing memory and desire, stirring dull roots with Spring rain." a little education quote on the seasons form TS Eliot
On 12 Jan 2011 at 5:15pm Mme Bovary wrote:
In the 1970s, didn't Seasons use to be a Russian restaurant called Nitchevo?
On 12 Jan 2011 at 6:28pm I used to.... wrote:
Be in the Polar Bear every Saturday in the 70's, used to manage to make one cup of tea last for hours... So did everyone else mind you, no wonder they closed!!!! 
On 12 Jan 2011 at 8:46pm popeye wrote:
Years ago I was courting my Olive in Lewes and we often used to go in the polar bear and listen to the juke box over a cup of coffee. Right opposite was the cinema where we also used to spend many an hour. Sad its all in the past but there you go.
On 12 Jan 2011 at 9:07pm jonnyboy wrote:
I worked briefly at Nitchevo, run by Harry who had a great Russian accent while the customers were there. The accent disapppeared when they'd gone! It was a coffee bar before that I think. Anyone remember the Candice club opposite the side door to the White Hart? Open in the afternoon when the pubs were shut and then again til 2.00 am. Lots of the Lewes Police would drink there. Also the Court Lounge where King's Framers is now.
On 12 Jan 2011 at 9:48pm expat wrote:
Court lounge, my teenage hangout. Horrible coffee, great people.
On 12 Jan 2011 at 9:48pm Rookie wrote:
Erics Cafe anybody? It was in Eastgate Street where Boots is now.
On 12 Jan 2011 at 10:02pm jonnyboy wrote:
Expat, you're right the coffee was foul, but Andre, Pat, Gladys and Christine were great. Such nice people. The poached eggs were ok though!
On 12 Jan 2011 at 10:06pm expat wrote:
Memories! Crooked floors.Yep the eggs were good.
On 12 Jan 2011 at 11:29pm Brixtonbelle wrote:
Whenever I've been in there the portions have been great and it's always busy. Plus I like the record box.
On 13 Jan 2011 at 8:34am Rookie wrote:
Another long gone and forgotten cafe I used to like was the Cheese 'n' Chutney. That was in Fisher street and is now council offices.
On 13 Jan 2011 at 9:28am Ed Can Do wrote:
I remember being taken to a cafe called Pattersons (Possibly Pattisons?) in the big building opposite the doctors on school hill when I was a small child. A glass of lemon squash drunk through a straw was the highlight of my week back then!
On 13 Jan 2011 at 9:36am Rookie wrote:
Then there was the cafe in the back of Clarks the Bakers..........
The list is endless.
On 13 Jan 2011 at 10:59am Penguin wrote:
There was the Lunch Counter up Station Street and of course Forfars had a cafe when they were on School Hill.
On 13 Jan 2011 at 11:26am Rods Tiger wrote:
Is it just my old imagination playing tricks or was there a roller skating rink behind the Court Lounge ?
And, what was the name of the tearooms where the Shanaz is now ?
On 13 Jan 2011 at 12:00pm Regular wrote:
Tatler tearooms?
On 13 Jan 2011 at 12:02pm bygones wrote:
Tatler was the pre-shanaz name - my auntie mollie used to take tea there.
What happened to Pepe, the owner of La Cucina in Station Street ? Another great little restaurant which disapeared a few years after the padding in the seats. Had a glass gun filled with red wine. Pepe was Spanish & tried tapas for a while added to the Italian menu.
On 13 Jan 2011 at 1:18pm pandemonia wrote:
I see your Tatler tearooms and raise you...the Cosy Cafe. Probably the least cosy establishment in the history of greasy spoons.
On 13 Jan 2011 at 1:23pm 'ere be monsters wrote:
Fred Arnold proprietor extraordinaire.
On 13 Jan 2011 at 1:24pm 'ere be monsters wrote:
There was the British Raj indian restaurant in Fisher Street!
On 13 Jan 2011 at 1:42pm bygones wrote:
Just checked my Rough Guide of England (1998) to check name, and says 'Twenty Fisher Street' the restauarnt before British Raj took it over. Seasons were further up the road in big glass fronted place now lower half of Dilraj. Another old fave pre-Italian chain, was La Scarpina in South St which was a cafe before & a private house now.
On 13 Jan 2011 at 2:00pm jonnyboy wrote:
There was a huge room at the back of the Court Lounge where Andre used to run free bingo for pensioners in the evenings. He and Pat referred to it as the old sweet factory. Upstairs in the sixties I believe there was another coffee bar. Re Fred Arnold, do you remember his semi-literate rants posted in the window of his shop on School Hill?
On 13 Jan 2011 at 2:06pm 'ere be monsters wrote:
They were amusing jonnyboy, almost as amusing as the fact he actually briefly became a councillor.
On 13 Jan 2011 at 2:24pm Penguin wrote:
It was the Taj Mahal before 'Twenty Fisher Street', the scene of my first ever curry. I had a biryani and one of my friends had a phal. Trying some of his was a big mistake - I thought I was going to die! There was another curry house up School Hill that just did takeaways - I can't remember what that was called but they were good. I think it was where the kebab shop is now. Oh yes, what about the Gunpowder Plot, what a restaurant that was!
On 13 Jan 2011 at 4:05pm bastian wrote:
all day breakfast,dead cheap upstairs at the bus station...(now bills bro runs it)or upstairs in ramsons for beans on toast.But my fave was marges egg and chips at the fruiterers arms.
On 13 Jan 2011 at 11:11pm expat wrote:
I don't remember Fred Arnold having anything to do with food, perhaps that's a good thing! Rods Tiger, skating rink at the back of Court Lounge rings bells, and I always wondered what really went on in those Bingo sessions Johnyboy.
On 14 Jan 2011 at 6:24pm popeye wrote:
I remember Fred Arnold well. I hired his old van off him years ago when I was moving house. Anyway it broke down near earwig corner so I walked back to Freds in the high street just as it was getting dark. I tapped on his shop door but no answer so I walked in and shouted up the stairs. He shouted back come on up, I did and found him sitting up in bed eating a sandwich and watching telly. I explained what had happened so he phoned his son up and arranged for me to borrow the large van they used for overseas removal. I did this and swopped my furniture over leaving his son to sort out the broken down van. Great guy very trusting and what a character. They dont make them like that any more. Rest in peace Fred.
On 14 Jan 2011 at 11:20pm Brixtonbelle wrote:
Why do some people on this forum complain about the amount of coffee shops etc in Lewes ? By the evidence on this thread seems like there was loads of cafes here in the past even if they were greasy spoons with dodgy/ eccentric characters !
On 14 Jan 2011 at 11:31pm Decent Citizen. wrote:
Popeye I agree. He and son moved us twice. A nice man. Man years ago he let my sister and I see the tunnels etc in his shop cellar. VERY interesting what is below ground level on School Hill!