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@sweetys.stmoritz

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Archive of Soho’s late legendary Sweety & the iconic @stmoritzclublondon • The original home of @gazsrockinbluesclub • 📸 curated @tracykawalik

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This friday, 1st of May would've been Sweety's 88th birthday so we had a last drink for Sweety 🍷

"He arrived in London in 1959, a cheeky 21-year-old pastry chef from Switzerland who only came to improve his English. He never left. He sailed to Brazil and back, baked cakes for Winston Churchill, and brought Swiss fondue to Soho.

Anyone who ever met him never forgot him. That laugh: rich, warm, deep. Those mischievous eyes and that boyish smile. A lovable scoundrel. Chef by day, host by night. A king in his kingdom. Until the very end, in his own words: "This is my life."

Was so nice to celebrate Sweety, cherish memories with him and see all these lovely photos of his earlier years.
Thank you Michael Loetscher ❤️

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Another awesome night guaranteed this Thursday with the sensational new kids on the block, The Forty Fours.
@gazsrockinbluesclub @stmoritzclublondon @thefortyfours @sweetys.stmoritz . From midnight we’ll be raising a glass to Sweety who would’ve turned 88 on May 1st had he not passed away around 6 weeks ago. RIP Armin

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Looking forward to another t’riffic night at the club this Thursday with the fabulous raunchy singer @shuko_fujiyama with her great Rhythm and Blues band Two Gun Mathilda.

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Last night at the club! Another awesome night Thanks to James Oliver & the inimitable Norman Watt-Roy. Great tribute to Sweety of the St. Moritz who passed away last week.

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It’s been a week since we lost Sweetie. Still hasn’t quite sunk in yet. We’ll miss his cheeky smile. Seems strange to not have him holding court on his favourite spot near the bar. Nevertheless the show goes on thanks to Max & Sweeties son Michael. Tonight’s talent, guitar star James Oliver over from South Wales features bass legend Norman Watt-Roy of The Blockheads & Wilko Johnson fame. Natty & Zac on the decks & your club host Gaz will be there to entertain you.

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Motörhead frontman Lemmy once said, “If you’re going to be a fucking rock star, go be one. People don’t want to see the guy next door on stage; they want to see a being from another planet. You want to see somebody you’d never meet in ordinary life.”

Sweety by name, Sweety by nature - Armin Loetscher, was undeniably one of a kind. A true blue charmer, with dapper dress sense, a mischievous, megawatt smile & behind one of the most iconic rock n roll joints in history.

I was lucky enough to call him a very dear friend for fifteen-years, sink numerous bottles of Swiss wine listening to his wild bohemian yarns, cry on his shoulder, strut around town, work behind his bar, and evidently sing, Christmas carols on the top floor of the restaurant (where he’s built a museum of his memories) whilst doused in Möet and a shitload of Schnapps.

Over St Moritz’s 70 year legacy the likes of Iron Maiden, Deep Purple, Guns n Roses, Slayer, AC/DC, The Bay City Rollers, Lee Scratch Perry and Horace Andy have strutted in the subterranean haunt, many for their first gigs.

Lemmy pulled pints and wrote Sweety postcards from the road, Joe Strummer penned a song especially for him & Sweety once kicked out Metallica for doing drugs.

His restaurant became revered as the most authentic Swiss spot in the city. Sweety was still often in the kitchen, at the market or shipping in the finest Swiss cheese, chocolate & meat. He counts George Harrison’s son and @sirtombaker (tailor to The Prodigy & Led Zeppelin) as his favourite regulars.

Every Thursday to this day @gazsrockinbluesclub @nattycongeroo pack out the place with a motley crew of northern soul kids tearing up the dancefloor in pinstripes , pop socks & hair greased to the Gods. Soundtracked by the most talented cats live music has to offer- and Sweety would be there til sunrise.

There’s so much more to say about the punks, the goths, the balls to the wall hair metal, glam rock & the birthing of Brit Pop, but so little fucking space.

It won’t be the same without him but I’ll love Sweety & that last bastion of Soho forever.

Please stop by for a beer, shake your tail feather & keep the party going. He wanted that. X

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Rest in peace Sweety. A huge character with dedication and sass to match. Don’t think there are enough instagram photo allowances for me to post all the photographs I have taken of him over the years, so keeping it simple. He was always laughing and his sense of humour was a special one. If you knew you knew. He will be sorely missed. RIP Armin Loetscher X @sweetys.stmoritz

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I'm just so sad to hear Sweety passed away.
I can't imagine arriving to @st.moritzclub tonight and not seeing his face, sitting at his usual table.
Just last week i told him it was almost his birthday coming ( on may day)...
I loved hearing his stories of old Soho and when he arrived in the 1950s, the cakes he baked for royalty, all the amazing groups who passed by the club - The Kinks, Jimmy Hendrix .. Lemmy from Motorhead use to write him the postcards pinned in the wall. Joe Strummer wrote this song for him ❤️ And obviously @gazsrockinblues and @gazmayall doing the club since the early 1990s there!
Gaz will have a lot of stories to tell ❤️

I went on memory lane this morning trying to find all these beautiful quick snaps we took through the years - I've been doing door there every thursday since 2016 ( and Natty djing there for almost 30 years) but thing is that i took Sweety for granted, we all did, he was so youthful that we all thought he would always be around, every week there with us! I wish i had taken more photos 😢 He knew Natty and i loved him very much, we baked him a cake last year for his birthday and i hugged him whenever i could! When i would tell him we would be away next thursday he would make sure to tell Natty " take good care of princess/ your misses" or "make babies" 🥲

With Sweety dies also a bit of Soho and a whole bunch of different generations will mourn him.
My heart goes to his son Michael ( he would always tell me about his son going surf in Portugal) Paula, Max, and of course @morgane.mbw
All the staff from the club and the @stmoritzrestaurant 🖤
Also @tracykawalik who messaged me this morning. I know she loved him dearly.
I will miss him shouting " Everybody pissófsky! Go home" in the end of the night and give me 3 kisses saying bye sweetheart 😢💔

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‘‘Tis with great sadness that I have to be the bearer of the bad news that we have lost Soho legend ‘Sweety’, owner of St. Moritz club & restaurant 159/161, Wardour st. We were just discussing his 88th birthday celebrations due in May. Big shock to us all @gazsrockinbluesclub . We’ll all be there tonight in both mourning & in celebration of a great man & a life well lived. Tributes & more information to follow but for now we are all just trying to get our heads around this before we can come to terms with this & see what the future holds for us.
In the meantime, commiserations to all Armin’s family, friends, staff & all who knew & loved him. 💔🙏😔 RIP Sweetie, the bigger boss. X @gazmayall photo 1 by @rubyflashman - photo 2 Sweety and @morgane.mbw - photo 3 Sweety and Ruby.
Thanks for all the fabulous years & having @gazsrockinblues every Thursday since Thanksgiving 1994. @stmoritzclublondon @sweetys.stmoritz

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Sweetie 🤍

We will all miss your presence in the club. Your club.

It was always a ritual seeing you cherfully passing trough Soho. On the way to Violet's, or just returning from.

Soho ritual.

You knew you are in Soho, if Sweetie passed by and said hi. Typical day.

Thank you for sweet memories and your kidness over the years. It was an honour to meet you.

Cannot imagine what Thursdays are like now in heaven. One day I found out and become a regular 🕊️

Rest in Paradise, Sweetie 🕊️🤍

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