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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Lifestyle
Vanessa Thorpe, Arts and Media Correspondent

Puccini and prawn cocktail: live music goes on cafe menu to tempt customers

Live music at the Fidelio Cafe on Clerkenwell Road in London
Live music at the Fidelio Cafe on Clerkenwell Road in London. Photograph: Matthew Johnson

Puccini with the prawn cocktail starter tonight? A little Lloyd Webber with the linguine? A growing number of London pubs and cafes are putting live music and performance on the menu to tempt reluctant patrons to dine out.

The trend, also mirrored in other British cities as the cost of living crisis threatens to keep customers at home, now encompasses classical music and musical theatre. It is no longer only jazz musicians who play regularly to diners at London venues such as Soho’s Pizza Express or Toulouse Lautrec in Elephant and Castle. Even circus performers are taking to the small stages being set up in some restaurants.

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