1 Michelin Star

February 10, 2012 1 Michelin Star

Galvin at Windows, Mayfair

Galvin at Windows is a bit of a favourite in our house, not least because it’s wonderfully friendly and relaxed. Add to that the near 360o views of London from its high perch on the twenty-eighth floor of the Hilton at Hyde Park, and it’s difficult to beat.

The kitchens are run by Head Chef André Garrett, now well-known for his appearances on The Great British Menu, and Chris Galvin is the Chef Patron.

Our 10 year old is a bit of a foodie – I can remember her eating Barolo and gorgonzola risotto at a year, carpaccio at two, and now at ten she eats sashimi, and the like. Each school holiday we like to take her somewhere special, and this time it was the turn of the Galvin team.

The room is divided very cleverly, a large horseshoe of tables extends around the exterior of the room, giving almost everyone a view from the windows. You could sit at the same table several times and the view is never the same twice. On this occasion we were overlooking Buckingham Palace, and she took great delight in trying to orient herself around the darkening landscape. Those views soon gave way to a glittering night-time panorama. The centre of the room is on a slightly raised platform, which also gives a view across London, without compromising the view on the lower level.

As you look over the menu the staff bring you a white pain d’Epi – always beautifully crisp and shaped, you break off your ‘wheat ears’ individually – it’s a good way of providing decent crust and chew in the bread, and is a variety I like very much*.

The amuse is an incredibly scented and flavoured shot of tomato water – incredibly time consuming to make, it’s elegant, refreshing, mouthwatering yet deeply satisfying. I always leave thinking I’m going to make some for myself, and return having failed to set aside the necessary time.

I’ve long favoured the seared foie gras dish, and the 10 year old bravely opted to give it a go. The dish is served in a soup plate, on a bed of chicorino, topped with a large seared piece of foie gras. This is then topped with a crunchy duck pastilla, full of tender shredded duck, redolent of crispy aromatic duck. There is also a piece of confit lemon – tangy, rich, ridiculously moreish, palate cleansing umami… Into the dish is poured the date consommé which is fully flavoured and sweet, but with a savoury depth. It’s simply one of my favourite dishes in London, and I know several other customers who like me, never eat anything else here. We both had this, and though she loved the majority of the dish, she wasn’t so keen on the foie gras – she’s ten – it’s a texture thing.

Hubby had the terrine of foie gras, which is served with a bitter-sweet tangy orange purée, spiced salt and toasted brioche. The brioche is always crisp, rich and light.

Just lately three of our children have become beef addicts, and their tastes are for rarer and rarer meat. Spotting a fillet of Scotch beef on the menu, the 10 yo decided to go with that. It is served medium by the kitchen, on top of a disk of rich dense braised ox cheek, and the smoothest mash imaginable. She loved the beef, and the mash, but after taking a couple of mouthfuls of the ox cheek, found that too rich for her. Again – she’s ten – I’d have been slightly surprised if she had eaten it all.

I find myself increasingly hankering for firm fish these days, so had the John Dory. Served with endive braised in orange, a cauliflower purée, curry oil and golden raisins the bitter-sweet endive offsets the purée and the dense fish.

The Hubby plumped for his favourite: poached Cotswold white chicken, a little Borettane onion tart, foie gras, some spring garlic purée, and baby vegetables. Borretane onions are small, firm, mild and slightly sweeter than most onions. Offset with the incredibly densely flavoured garlic purée (much nicer than perhaps it sounds), they provide a counterpoint to the rich savouriness of the chicken. I often have this dish too, and it just proves how far removed good chicken is from most of the insipid fowl that crosses our plates.The 10 year old is rather partial to dessert, and fancied the tarte tartin (I make a plum tarte tartin she likes), but as it’s for two, I said perhaps we could share it. When it duly arrived I doubted an army could share it – but I do know someone who regularly orders a double portion at Claridge’s just for himself. In our case the tarte triumphed over us, and Andrew Sicklin, the restaurant manager, kindly popped it into a doggy bag for to us to take home.

The Hubby had the banana soufflé served with chocolate and peanut – I’ve had this myself in the past, and it’s not my favourite combination. There’s something about warm bananas that I think could divide diners. Served with a good hit of alcohol, of almost any description, I think warm banana works. Without alcohol is reminds me of baby-food – but given how many children I’ve had, perhaps it’s just me. The peanut butter ice-cream is delicious.

Galvin works as a restaurant on many levels. As a couple, you can have a romantic evening, overlooking that glittering view; as a group of chums – there’s a great bar just next door that you can go to before and after you eat. You could just as easily impress you maiden aunt here, as a new conquest, or your boss.

The key to this success is as much about the absolutely perfect service as the excellent food. As this is the home of Fred Sirieix, the renowned creator of The Art of Service, this is really not a surprise. These standards are meticulously maintained by Andrew Sicklin and his team, but with good cheer, hospitality and warmth to boot. The 10 year old floated out of the restaurant declaring it her favourite to date. Now how can you argue with that?

Galvin at Windows

London Hilton
22 Park Lane

London W1K 1BE

* I believe Galvin buy in their bread, like a number of restaurants these days – it is however consistently good.

Starters

Terrine of foie gras, orange purée, spiced salt & toasted brioche.

Seared foie gras, spiced duck pastilla, confit lemon & date consommé.

Cured Loch Duart salmon, Cornish crab, avocado cream & fennel compote.

Salad of crisp organic egg, pickled carrot, yellow beetroot & truffle dressing.

Ballotine of organic pork, crispy trotter, pickled apple & mustard.

Seared Scottish scallops, wild sea vegetables & oyster emulsion.

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Main Courses

Fillet of wild salmon, ragout of mussels, girolles,
broad beans & borlotti, jus of the earth & sea.

South Coast John Dory, orange braised endive,
cauliflower purée, curry oil & golden raisins.

Braised turbot, cucumber, oyster, linguini, wasabi & oyster velouté.

Pithivier of hay baked celeriac, kohlrabi, carrot purée,
trompette & Champagne vinaigrette.

Cornish spring lamb, baby artichoke, anchovy &
caper condiment & shepherd’s pie.

Poached Cotswold white chicken, Borettane onion tart, foie gras,
spring garlic purée, English baby summer vegetables & hazelnut jus gras.

Slow cooked fillet of Scotch beef, cooked medium,
braised ox cheek, pomme purée & red wine jus

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Desserts

Wild strawberries, rosewater jelly, fontainebleau & jus de fraise

Caramelised Royal Gala apple tarte tatin, Tahitian vanilla ice cream & caramel sauce (for 2)

Manjari chocolate ganache, hazelnut & salted caramel

Coffee crème brulée, Marsala mascarpone, Lady fingers & cacao ice cream

Baba au rhum, crème Chantilly

Hot soufflé of banana, chocolate & caramelised peanut

Selection of seasonal cheeses by Maître affineur “La Fromagerie”

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February 9, 2012 1 Michelin Star

Alyn Williams, Mayfair

Alyn Williams is a chef’s chef. I know this, because when I ask a Tony Fleming where I should be eating, he pointed me in Alyn’s direction and said what a great chap he was.

Formerly head chef at Marcus Wareing’s restaurant in the Berkeley, Alyn’s pedigree also extends to time at Royal Hospital Road – so two of our favourites under his belt, but here with his own menu and flair.

The restaurant only has 11 tables, but they’re well spaced and comfortable. The room feels like a hotel dining room, with deep wood veneers on the wall, and a glittery carpet that I am positive I’ve seen before. Not often one has deja vu over a carpet. Off to one side of the room, and between the kitchen and the diners, are a number of terrarium where the staff are growing herbs, wild grasses and even an ash and an oak in their own micro-climates – fascinating. They turn on a growing light each night to prevent the plants from turning towards the lights in the restaurant. In the corners of the room are a number of discreet banquettes for larger groups, and set off from the centre is a private dining room with a pretty impressive collection of wine. Indeed this is one of the few places in ages that I’ve been able to get a glass of Krug as my apéritif.

Menu in hand I tucked in to a very lovely gougere, which is made with Fourme d’Ambert, it was very light, rich cheesy tang, very good. There were also prawn crackers with a tiny dot of mayonnaise and a cube of prawn; really excellent truffled arincini; and a tiny pissaladière, here with a shard of barbecue flavoured salmon – delicious. Influences may have come from all around the globe, but they sat very happily together.

We decided to go for the tasting menu (good value at £55 a head), and were given some bread, and two kinds of butter. As well as the usual offering, the kitchen serves butter whipped with caraway. It turns the butter a rich golden colour and adds an incredibly moreish edge to whatever you’ve put it on – one idea I’m definitely going to steal!

Then we were brought an onion soup consommé – in the bottom of a cocktail glass light delicate crab, topped with a disk of aspic (nice that), and beef cheek. The consommé is then poured into the glass. This is served with a side order of cheese squares – crisp wafers sandwiched with cream cheese and chives.

Perigord truffle soldiers, with smoked egg and celeriac came as tiny disks of crisp refreshing apple, a poached hens egg (which apparently took the kitchen weeks to perfect), and truffles layered between rich buttery toast. The yolk forms the dressing for the dish, and worked very well with the celeriac cylinders and coated the disks of truffle in the dish – all very good.

Next we had the semi-fredo foie gras: cylinders of chilled foie gras served with frozen yoghurt (which had been salted – delicious!), a lime puree and scattered with a lime and liquorice powder (this is made with liquorice oil, tapioca, lime and ground liquorice root). At the bottom of the dish sat a layer of deep and earthy liquorice which was echoed in the coriander cress. The dish ate best when we combined the liquorice and lime together, especially with that salted frozen yoghurt. An amazing combination of flavours.

The fish course is cod served with sea beets, purslane, rock samphire, scurvy grass, and sea astor – topped with gutweed butter. It was creamy without overpowering the delicate and translucent fish. I love foraged greens and the dish was balanced, creamy without any apparent cream sauce, and yet delicate and scented.

Cotswold chicken is served with chargrilled leeks, a deep rich leek puree, girolle mushrooms, and another smoked egg. This was our choice I should point out, as I didn’t have the scallop dish with the oysters, and actually I rather like smoked eggs. The skin on the chicken was crisp, rich with umami flavours and the mushrooms perfect with the smoked yolk. The tempura style root added another dimension to the dish and the chargrilled leeks were smoky and sweet.

Alyn was concerned that we’d had two egg yolks, and so sent us a dish of beef, braised beef, quenelles of turnip and tiny, tiny croutons. The beef was rich and deep and the jus smooth and glossy. The potatoes were almost miniature fondant potatoes, and I was grateful for their size. The beef was a Devon Ruby Red, not a breed I’m was familiar with, and supplied by Phillip Warren in Launceston who is a butcher for the Rare Breeds Survival Trust.

The pre-dessert was a little bowl of crema catalana but topped with pear granita. The crema had non of the burnt edge of a typical Catalan cream, but the granita provided a very light and vibrant palate cleanser. The dish was topped with pine sugar, adding further texture to the granita.

Dessert was described to us a being like a Twix, but I thought it tasted much more like a Marathon. Not a Snickers mind you, an old fashioned and much saltier Marathon from the good old days. The chocolate finger did have a caramal layer on top of the biscuit, but one mouthful of the peanut butter icecream transports you straight back to your childhood. I had supposed the pâtissier was using peanut brittle rather than peanut butter, but I’m assured it’s Skippy, favourite as most of us know of Nigella. Amazing depth and flavour!

One of the joys of such a small room is that over the course of the evening everyone begins to relax, chat a bit more, speak to the staff about where they like to eat, what they like to drink. We spent some time talking to the enthusiastic Danish sommelier, and to Gian Carlo the restaurant manager. The staff were all charming, and went out of their way to show people the wine room and introduce each table to the kitchen, if they wished.

Personally I love a good nose around a professional kitchen, and the Hubby dutifully tagged along – but Alyn is so charming and such good fun that we were soon laughing, and trying to pocket the gorgeous bianchetti Alyn had stashed in his drawer. I’d never come across bianchetti before, and had no idea that any white truffles were still available at this time of the year. Alyn was going to preserve them in Sauternes, and this thought alone guaranteed I’d already made my next reservation before I even wrote this piece!

Do get along to see Alyn before the best value tasting menu in town is booked solid. Try not to get too heavily stuck into the wine list though – some wines are still being sold at their original cost and represent great bargains – others were subject to usual hotel markup.

Alyn Williams at the Westbury

37 Conduit Street
The Westbury Mayfair Hotel
London W1S 2YF

February 5, 2012 1 Michelin Star

Seven Park Place, St James’s

The St James Hotel and Club is hidden away in right in the heart of St James, and despite knowing the area well, I was surprised to discover the gated courtyard hidden at the end of Park Place. The hotel is discreet and eminently well-placed, and I can imagine would appeal enormously to wealthier tourists. The hotel’s restaurant, Seven Park Place, is run by Christophe Thuilot, formerly at Capital and William Drabble, previously at Aubergine is the Executive Chef. Excellent credentials then, and as we were attending a viewing of the Impressionist sale at Christies in King Street, it seemed a very convenient choice for dinner.

Racing the short distance up St James Street in the biting cold, we poured into the hotel and were shown straight into the restaurant by the staff. The tables are distributed around a number of alcoves, with guests are discreetly dispersed to ensure privacy. Despite being there at 8.30, we were among the first diners. The decoration is somewhat eclectic, with contrasting carpet, upholstery and wallpaper, and contemporary art on the walls. Some have described it as a jewell-box, the Hubby called it a car crash. It will definitely not appeal to everyone.

We were offered drinks and the menu, and settled in to make our choices. The bread offerings were white, brown, and caraway seed. I’m very fond of caraway, so I chose that – it was soft, dense, rather pale but beautifully perfumed and with a soft crust – a lifetime away from my sourdough caraway, but lovely all the same.

The amuse was some kind of escabeche, sardine I think, with blood orange and baby carrots – the fish was firm but delicately soused, and the blood orange acidity cut through the rich fish well. I’m not entirely sure what function the carrots played.

For my starter, I had a large piece of seared foie gras with casserole of white beans, onion and bacon. I thought this sounded good, but it’s definitely not the best combination I’ve had with foie. Firstly the foie was overcooked and soggy. There was very little colour on it, so it hadn’t been over-seared, but had been left sitting in its own juices for too long. The white bean casserole would have been delicious on its own but when combined with the foie gras was too rich, and too oily.

The Hubby had seared scallops with gratin of salsify and truffle jus – the scallops were large and meaty, but were also overcooked. The rest of the dish lacked flavour.

I moved on to a roast fillet of turbot with a horseradish and oyster beignet. The turbot was beautifully cooked, crisp on the outside, delicate in the middle. I only ate half of the beignet, but it was both crisp and moist inside.

The Hubby had the veal cheek slow cooked in Madeira, with bone marrow mash and grain mustard sauce – the veal cheek was dense, unctuous and full of flavour, but the bone marrow flavour was lacking in the mash.

We weren’t particularly impressed by this stage. I rarely make it to dessert and I thought we really ought to try one, so we decided to share the milk chocolate dessert between us. The milk chocolate, gingerbread and salted caramel ice-cream seemed particularly appropriate given my earlier conversations about lebkuchen.

The gingerbread comes in tiny cubes, spiced like lebkuchen*, interspersed with little dots of clementine jam. There are piped stripes of chocolate running in parallel lines down the length of the plate, with a quenelle of salted caramel ice-cream at one end and a stack of chocolate strips layered with piped chocolate mousse at the other. The chocolate was crisp – perfect ‘snap’, very well tempered, glossy and good. The mousse inside it was good, but the ice-cream was fabulous. Fabulous. Combined with the warm gingerbread and the acidic clementine, the salted nut worked perfectly. It’s an amazing dessert and the Hubby told me off as I began to change my tune, suddenly finding merit in the earlier dishes. But this is how good meals work – one dish can transform your whole experience.

We were offered the usual treats, on this occasion from a lovely adapted humidor with rows and stacks of truffles, jellies, candied delights etc. All very good.

The staff are very professional, and I note they spoke Italian to the Italians, etc, in the way that good hotel restaurants do. However the meal worked out at about the same price as a visit to Scotts, or perhaps a better comparison in terms of aesthetics, Le Gavroche. Having calculated the meal back out, more than half of the cost came down to the alcohol, which was subject to hotel markups.

The restaurant is in a good location, and I can imagine returning if we wanted a secret hideaway. We’ll definitely pop into bar for either lunch, or a postprandial drink – the bar actually looked rather good. However with so many excellent restaurants on the doorstep (Petrus, Greenhouse, L’Oranger, Galvin at Windows, Cecconi’s, Alain Ducasse, le Caprice, The Square etc), I shan’t be racing back for dinner.

7-8 Park Place,

St James’s Hotel and Club

London SW1A 1LP

Lebkuchen*: Having grown up in Germany, lebkuchen are very much a part of my childhood. At Christmas street fairs, stalls are packed high with lebkuchen and scented with glühwein.

Unlike British gingerbread recipes which are usually made with cinnamon, ginger, cloves and treacle, lebkuchen are made with honey and include a number of additional spices which add warmth and depth to the flavour. They’re much closer in flavour to the French pain d’épices, than our gingerbread with aniseed, coriander, cardamom, and allspice. Often grated zest, or the flavour of candied peel are included too, adding a level of fruitiness and acidity.

Lebkuchen are traditionally glazed with dark chocolate, or a citrus sugar glaze, which scents the outside of the biscuit before you bite into the warm spice. This is why William’s dessert worked so well for me – a deconstructed lebkuchen with chocolate and salted caramel – perfect.

June 29, 2011 1 Michelin Star

Galvin at Windows, Mayfair

Just a quickie today :0) And be warned – the word fabulous is going to appear rather a lot!

Last night I had dinner at Galvin’s on Park Lane. We’d been at the Serpentine Party, and for once I was actually ravenous when we arrived at the restaurant.

Depending on your sensibilities, Galvin either has a fabulous location, way up in the Hilton and with breathtaking views over London, or perhaps has dizzying effects on your stomach as you peer over the edge. The restaurant itself is very nicely laid out, and with a multi-tier effect, you don’t feel the space so much. I assume it was laid out in this way to afford everyone a decent view out of the window…

The waiting staff were very attentive – the sommelier remembered having a little ‘discussion’ on burgundies with the Hubby the last time he’d been in – and the waitress brought us some piping hot bread straight out of the oven – yummy!

Now. Before I really begin – I really ought to remind you that I was RAVENOUS when we sat down, and that may have affected my use of so many superlatives – that and the gallon of champagne we’d had at the Serpentine!

The amuse was a tomato water – just fabulous…. Fabulous, fabulous – I’m definitely going to make the effort to make it having previously considered it too time-consuming.

I began with the pan-seared foie gras, spiced duck pastilla, confit lemon and date consommé. The foie gras was, yes, you’ve guessed it – fabulous. But actually the date consommé was even more incredible – I was spooning down to the last drop as the staff tried to take my plate. If I could have a flask of the stuff, I could climb Everest.

The Hubby had the terrine of foie gras, orange purée, spiced salt and toasted brioche. Now the Hubby is renowned in his search for a decent foie gras terrine – he’s had it everywhere and is usually disappointed. Here he thought the flavour excellent, he loved the texture (it looked very smooth), he loved the orange, and even the brioche looked crisper and more robust than the usual offerings. I didn’t even get a look in!

I then had the slow cooked fillet of beef, braised ox cheek, pomme purée and red wine jus. The ox cheek was deep and earthy, packed with flavour and a great contrast to the fillet. The mash was as smooth and silky as you’d expect, and the jus rich to the point of obsession. A proper ‘you can wipe your finger across it’ richness. And I did.

The Hubby had the real highlight though, Cotswold white chicken, tortellini, broad bean, wild garlic and jus gras. It looked stunningly pretty. The small amount I was allowed to steal was loaded with the garlic jus which tasted intensely of roasted garlic purée – smooth, delicious, full of flavour.

By this stage it was too late for pud, though they all looked delicious. We were brought some of the marshmallows, and the strawberry one’s were particularly tasty, without doubt the best marshmallow I’ve eaten. I did also buy a bag of tea (!) – there were some amazing combinations, and I went for one with fennel seed, which aids digestion. I thought it might be a decent Kümmel substitute.

So. If you find yourself in need of a really flavoursome dinner, I’d definitely try Galvin! It has a very cute bar which fills up quite late (I noticed that they shut the doors between the bar and the restaurant when it started to fill). If you like heights the view is sensational. Also, the atmosphere is very relaxed – you could come here with friends and enjoy dinner without feeling as though your disturbing everyone else – a definite plus in this calibre of dining. It’s going on my favourite’s list.

[I couldn’t possibly steal her pics, but unlike me, @ValerieFerman did manage to photo most of the dishes we ate! Here> Valerie’s pics of her meal at Galvin]

Galvin at Windows also participates in Galvin’s Chance – an employment programme for 18-24 year olds – have a look. Galvin’s Chance Brochure