As a dynamic social and cultural force the coffeehouse died out in the mid-19th century, only to be reborn in the rock ‘n roll espresso bars of 1950s Soho. There was no shortage of colourful haunts there, either.

The weirdest was Le Macabre, on Meard Street. Inside this ‘cobweb-festooned house of horrors’, customers sat on coffins, dropped ash into... See more