When Tamsin Olivier — daughter of the great Laurence — and painter Abigail Osborne took on The Engineer in 1994, it was taking £2,000-a-week. They ran it as an early gastropub, fitting for Primrose Hill, and soon attracted celebrity clientele: Harry Enfield, Sienna Miller, Jamie Oliver and Lisa Snowdon were regulars.
The food was local and seasonal, the beer well-kept and the atmosphere distinctly 1990s. It had “a vibe”, everyone went.
