Louis Marchesi is back! Norwich bar Take 5 is renamed after a city legend
The Louis Marchesi in Norwich in 1999. - Credit: Eastern Counties Newspapers
A Norwich city centre bar has returned to its roots by being renamed in honour of a famous figure.
The Louis Marchesi pub in Tombland, Norwich in the 1990s. - Credit: � ARCHANT NORFOLK 2003
Take 5 will once again be named The Louis Marchesi – after the city man who founded the Round Table.
The Grade II-listed building in Norwich's Tombland has housed the Take 5 café/bar for a number of years. Before that, it was the Louis Marchesi from 1976, having originally been the Waggon and Horses.
To a certain generation in Norwich, a drink at 'The Louis' was a key part of a city night out.
Now, after Take 5 closed, new owner Lisa Atkins has revived the name.
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She has been refurbishing the venue and it reopened on Friday.
The pub will also have a new food menu, described by Ms Atkins as 'upmarket'.
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Singers Christy Reed and Neil Francis, both from Great Yarmouth, performed over the opening weekend. The pub also has a function room upstairs, where the new owner plans to serve cocktails and play jazz music.
Louis Marchesi, the pub's namesake, was the founder of the Round Table Great Britain and Ireland, a charitable organisation for young men, set up in Norwich in 1927.
He was the first secretary of the club, which has continued to run to this day.
The organisation has over 30,000 members all around the world, and says it offers: 'Lifelong friendships, unforgettable experiences and the chance to make a difference to those around you', with events including hiking, cycling, and running challenges; socialising; volunteering; and charity fundraising.
Mr Marchesi was a local business owner, and a member of the Norwich Rotary Club. He felt there was a need for a club aimed at younger businessmen in Norwich, and enforced a 'retiring' age of 40 from the Round Table.
Today Round Table members can belong to the organisations until the age of 45 – and then become members of the 41 Club, an association of ex-Tablers.
Marchesi died at his home in Norwich in 1968, and is buried in the Earlham Road Cemetery in Norwich.
The Round Table used to meet in the Louis Marchesi pub in Norwich, and its headquarters are now located in Birmingham.
