Nourished

Andrew Sicklin

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

Galvin at Windows on Urbanspoon

* 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.
————
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
————
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”
————

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