Pizza Express: St Bride Street, London

Located just off Fleet Street, the former home of newspapers, this Pizza Express is split over six levels. That makes it very handy if you go dining with someone you don’t want to spend time with (not that this happened on my visit, of course): just slip a small bribe to the waiter and get them to claim there are only two tables for one available, sadly with four intervening levels between them. Evening made perfect.

St Bride Street itself takes its name from St Bridget, a 6th century Irish saint after whom the famous St Bride’s Church on Fleet Street is also named.

There are numerous different accounts of her life, which despite the best efforts of historians is still much obscured by myth and uncertainty. She does seem however to have been responsible for inventing a shriek alarm to be used by women if endangered.

It is not known if you shriek on receipt of your Pizza Express bill whether you will have it waived in honour of St Bridget. (I apologise for not investigating when I was there.) But it should.

So that is 22 down, 116 (or thereabouts) to go.