There’s something about the corner of Great Chapel St and Hollen St. It’s not the sound of a Crossrail foundation being laid, or that it’s an expedient cut-through to Soho Square. It’s something more subtle, more profound, and it concerns matters of the heart.
Sometime in April 1957 my mum, aged 17, walked into The Star for her lunch. As she ordered her beans on toast she couldn’t help but notice the tall, dark, handsome Italian boy behind the counter. 
Actually it turned out he wasn’t so tall after all as he stood on a 4 inch raised floor. No matter, Cupid had shot his arrow. They married in 1963 and enjoyed over 50 years of married bliss.
Fast forward 30 years… my brother meets the love of his life at the Star and after a circuitous route they are living happily ever after. Fast forward another 15 years and I too meet the love of my life and my better half at The Star, just a couple of weeks after launching the bar here.
You could say this is just a Forte thing, but no! Four of our staff here have met their partners here and almost every week one of our guests tells us they are visiting us to celebrate their anniversary because, guess what, they met here 2, 3, 7, 10 years ago!
This cannot be coincidence, what is going on? Is our little corner of Soho Cupid’s secret hang-out with arrows firing off left, right and center? Maybe we’re on a love Ley Line?
If you met your true love at the Star, drop us a line as we would love to add your story to our roll-call of Star romances.
The fact that today is Valentine’s day is purely coincidental!