E. Pellicci Cafe

E. Pellicci Cafe

A cafe with accommodation above, originally built around 1900 and remodelled in 1946 as a cafe for E. Pellicci. The building stands on Bethnal Green Road in E2.

The exterior ground floor cafe facade features a distinctive deep custard-colour Vitrolite frieze that extends down to corner pilasters on both sides, with 'E.PELLICCI' displayed in pronounced steel letters in Univers-face capitals. Below this is a tripartite arrangement of window, door, window, each bay covered by a steel grille. The left-hand window is wider with a central horizontal steel band; below this the Vitrolite has been replaced in a similar shade. The right-hand window is narrower, positioned above original Vitrolite plinth. The paired wooden framed glazed doors are a late twentieth-century replacement. The first floor has replaced windows and a plain parapet; the hopper head is dated 1900 with E.P. initials.

The interior consists of a single cafe room with counter to the front left and kitchen to the rear. All surfaces are lined with intricate Art Deco-style marquetry panelling crafted by Achille Capocci. The counter is defined by a steel-capped Formica counter with a framed panel of sunburst marquetry. Behind the counter, the wall features a marquetry frieze with a central plaque marked 'EP' and shelving framed by five slender pilasters with Egyptian-style capitals; this continues to the rear where full-height similar pilasters and a low marquetry wall appear. The remaining cafe space is lined with marquetry panels above dado level, each containing a central abstract fan shape and framed by slightly advanced pilasters. The kitchen window opening at the rear was sensitively replaced in the 1990s after a fire. The door to the rear with E. Pellicci coloured glass motif is modern, as is the motto on the floor.

The E. Pellicci Cafe opened in 1900, though it is the shopfront and cafe interior from 1946 that render it remarkable. This refurbishment occurred just after the Second World War, the year of the 'Britain Can Make It' exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum, which heralded modern British design. It preceded the Festival of Britain by a few years, which brought a style and design awakening to the capital. The period also saw increased Italian immigration and the opening of numerous new cafes and espresso bars, particularly in London. These establishments represented a modern continuation of a long London tradition spanning from late seventeenth-century coffee houses through late nineteenth-century tea rooms to 1930s milk bars. In the late 1950s, the number of cafes in Britain doubled from 1000 to 2000, with 500 of these in Greater London alone, serving a new class of teenagers and other customers. Technological innovations of the period enabled the use of visually attractive new materials such as plastics and Formica, which contributed to a new design vocabulary often exploited in bright colours, providing an antidote to the drab war years.