Rosa lewis biography cavendish hotel london

English cook

Rosa Lewis (néeOvenden; 1867–1952) was an English cook and owner of The Cavendish Hotel in London, located at the intersection of Jermyn Street and Duke Street, St.

James.^[1] Known as the "Queen of Cooks", her culinary skills were highly prized by Edward VII, with whom she was rumoured to have had an affair in the 1890s.^[2][3] She was also called "The Duchess of Jermyn Street."^[4][5]

Life

She was born in Leyton, Essex, the fifth of nine children.

Her father was a watchmaker and later an undertaker.^[6]

She left school at 12 to go into domestic service,^[7] working her way up to cook. She claimed that the great chef Auguste Escoffier, then at the Carlton Hotel, taught her about cooking.

It was he who named her the "Queen of Cooks".^[6] One of her employers was Lady Randolph Churchill.^[7] One day, Rosa chased Lady Randolph's then ten-year-old, red-haire