The Don Restaurant, London EC4N , Restaurant/cafe

The Don Restaurant

Restaurant/cafe

The Courtyard, 20 St. Swithins Lane
EC4N London
United Kingdom

Phone: 020 7626 2606

Website: http://www.thedonrestaurant.com

Opening times:
Mon 12:00 pm - 3:00 pm, 6:00 pm - 10:00 pm
Tue 12:00 pm - 3:00 pm, 6:00 pm - 10:00 pm
Wed 12:00 pm - 3:00 pm, 6:00 pm - 10:00 pm
Thu 12:00 pm - 3:00 pm, 6:00 pm - 10:00 pm
Fri 12:00 pm - 3:00 pm, 6:00 pm - 10:00 pm

The Spirit of The Don

The spirit of The Don has been an integral part of 20 St Swithins Lane since 1798 when the young Perthshire Scot George Sandeman took over the site as the cellar for his port sherry and wine company. The black-caped figure of The Don with his flat black sombrero has long been a symbol of excellence in the world of ports and sherries.

Those ports and sherries were shipped to London from Oporto and Jerez on the Iberian Peninsula in their handsome wooden casks, which were lowered down into the basement bottling cellars by the hand turned Capital Patent Crane.
The Crane, which was at that time considered a remarkable feat of engineering still stands in the shed that is today the entrance to the Don Restaurant and Bistro.

Ports, sherries, and those Madeiras continued to be bottled here until 1969 when the now world–famous “Sign of The Don” was lowered from its site high above Number 20 St Swithins Lane and shipped to Oporto where it has been hanging in the Sandeman
Museum.

George Sandeman, the present chairman, thought it appropriate that the sign should be returned from Oporto to its original home at 20 St Swithins Lane, trusting that the spirit of The Don would inspire a new generation of enthusiastic connoisseurs.