Back in the eighties, were you really an A-lister if you hadn't dined at Poon's? The Covent Garden restaurant which Bill and Cecilia Poon opened in 1973 was one of those restaurants which defined both the city and the decade. Bill was born in China, later moving to Macau and was a seventh generation chef. On arriving in London in the seventies, he found a capital city that, in his opinion, was crying out for good Chinese food. So he opened his first restaurant in Chinatown, followed by the more high-end Poon's in Covent Garden, which went on to receive a Michelin star in 1980.
It was a glamorous spot with everyone from Mick Jagger to Sean Connery and Barbra Streisand seen dining there. Poon himself worked at the restaurant until his retirement in 2006, although the restaurant itself returned briefly in 2018, popping up in Clerkenwell. Bill also kept his hand in, running the Poon's wind-dried meat business and helping daughter Amy with the opening of her own Poon's restaurant at Somerset House with the calligraphy that you see on entering.
His death was announced today by daughter Amy. We'd like to extend our condolences to the Poon family on their loss.
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