Lunching at Laura's

This is an unusual, quirky book which centres on an Hungarian restuarant in Soho, London. The restuarant has been in the hands of the same family for several generations and is now being very capably managed by Laura, the grandaughter of the original owners, and is regarded as the "in" place for city businessmen and showbiz types to gather, particularly at lunchtime, where to be admitted is to prove that you are definitely on the A list. The remaining members of the family all recieve a healthy slice of the profits as it's controlled by a family trust which can only be broken if a large number of the trust members agree to sell. The story begins as an unscrupulous real estate magnate tried to force the removal of the restuarant, freeing valuable city centre property to be redeveloped, by offering some of the greedier family members, large sums of money as an incentive and by resorting to blackmail and threats of bodily harm. It's a quick read and a very engaging one which would make a great little movie.