A great and legendary London figure - unknown to the general public - has died at the age of 95. She was maître-d’ of a series of Soho and Charlotte Street restaurants - not the poshest or most expensive, but amongst the most convivial and welcoming and thus almost homes from home for London-based actors, authors and journalists. She always knew your name; some called her their “Second Mother”. I can imagine her teasing new arrivals at the Pearly Gates. I first met her 42 years ago.
Bon voyage, Elena,
et:
Bon appétit
Here’s Elena, with a young fan:
I obviously went to the wrong restaurants! 
RIP Elena.
Mr X
And here she is a year ago delivering some encouragement to an up-and-coming young scribbler from Cumbria, probably on his first trip to “the smoke”:
