Galvin La Chapelle
Chris and Jeff Galvin have been steadfast figures for over six decades, redefining French bistro cuisine for the British palate. Their journey is paved with lessons absorbed from an assembly of industry icons, mentors, and colleagues over the decades. “A restaurant brings you an instant family,” Chris says.
The 16-year-old Chris took a job to help his mother in Essex, The Old Log; here he found his first mentor – Anthony Worral Thompson. He moved to the Ritz, under the direction of Michael Quinn. By that time, Jeff began working in the Savoy (with Giorgio Locatelli and Marcus Wareing), eventually moving to L’Escargot. Chris went on to work with Sir Terence Conran, opening restaurants Mezzo, Bluebird, Almeida and Orrery, for which he was awarded his Michelin star in 2000. In 2003 he was the opening head chef at the now famous Wolseley, before teaming up with his brother in 2005. Chris Corbin and Jeremy King then asked him to launch the Wolseley, which “was too good an offer to turn down.”
Making comfort food sophisticated became the signature of the Galvin restaurants, which began with Bistrot de Luxe on Baker Street in 2005. The brothers selected a Grade II listed building, St. Botolph’s Hall from 1890, to open Galvin La Chapelle in 2009, which with an exterior of Flemish Renaissance Revival, Grecian pillars, and history as a schoolhouse, is also a composite of this Spitalfields history.
