Over the years, Chris Galvin has put in honourable service at both the Orrery (for which we won a star) and the Wolseley (which he helped launch). But for most diners, his name only became known with the opening – in partnership with his brother Jeff – of Galvin’s (‘Bistro de luxe’) in Marylebone last September. Now, in double quick time, he’s helping put the family name above the door of this potentially spectacular dining room (though the actual head chef is André Garrett).
Tastefully, if neutrally, revamped in brown and taupe, the room occupies the entire 28th floor of the only major London hotel the Queen has never visited. When you see the spectacular aerial view of her garden, you can understand why she wasn’t that keen on its construction. Indeed, the room’s panoramas of the West End – and, after the recent relocation of the bar – the City, really are extraordinary.
Cue warning bells and klaxons: surely great views and great cooking are mutually exclusive? Well, it’s early days – in fact, I was the place’s first paying customer – but the early signs are encouraging. Apart from the setting, strengths included some very good – if not especially ambitious – dishes, such as a perfectly judged pavé of organic salmon, and a very tasty trio of chocolate desserts.
That’s not to say there were no quibbles. Service was generally solicitous, but might it not have been polite to mention that that unspecified glass of ‘Bollinger’ was vintage, and was going to cost £28.50? Also bread was a non-event and filter coffee came with cold milk. When bills could so easily reach a ton a head, these are the sort of details it would be good to get right – however favourable one’s initial impressions.
