Galvin La Chapelle

Galvin La Chapelle

Address:
35 Spital Square
London, E1 6DY

Galvin La Chapelle is in Spitalfields and is just off the A10, a five minute walk from Liverpool Street Station.  There are lots of classic London townhouses in these nooks and crannies.  And GLaC utilises a converted chapel to very good effect.  It's airy and quite spacious though as with most London restaurants the premium of space requires the figure of a ballet dancer to get in and out between tables.  It is great to see these old spaces being re-used and yet in the reassignment there's something of the older purpose still resonating in the stones and beams and forms.  This is still a chapel and some of the serenity, calm and sense of community linger but thankfully not the temperence.

There are set menus which are very reasonable and at the time we went subject to attractive offers eg a three course Sunday lunch for £30, a la carte menu which was very tempting with dishes such as Assiette of Herdwick lamb, ratatouille, San Marzano tomatoes & fennel.  There were appealing veggie options and the obligatory Iberico Pork in both starter and main form.

We went for the tasting menu with matched wines which was £120.  I know some will wince at that kind of spending - though compared with a Premiere League football match, a box at the Proms or a night at the opera it probably works out at about the same £/hr figure.  Not for weekly dining but if you want somewhere special, with atmosphere and service and creativity then this is an excellent option.

The Starters
Veg to the right

SN: It's seldom that I've been so bowled over by the very first plate I'm offered in a tasting menu: Lasag.....

LM: Before we even talk about that,  one of the best first impressions a restaurant can give me is friendly service, free olives, copious bread and butter and eye-wateringly strong aperitifs - and it's important to note that GLaC blew my mind on all of the above. The olives were some of the best I've eaten, and my expanding waistline will tell you that I eat a lot.

The other point I'd like to comment on before I talk about the food was how incredibly quick and happy the staff were to put together a vegetarian tasting menu with literally no notice  - not only this but they printed me a copy and arranged wine pairings. Exceptional service.

My first dish was a chilled tomato consommé with mozzarella and basil. Beautifully done - absolutely clear and colourless and that wonderful summery tomato flavour that you really only get from a masterfully executed dish. I had a 2012 Pittnauer Rosé with it which was a lovely compliment - full bodied without overpowering or fighting against the consommé.

By this time we were both getting quite excitable about the quality of food and booze, fair to say. The next dish genuinely made my eyes cross with delight; a salad of heritage beetroot, heirloom tomatoes, candied walnuts, goats cheese and balsamic. None of those ingredients will particularly shock vegetarians but the candied walnuts did...well, good things...to me. Beautiful compliment to the goats cheese; I quite happily could have eaten it all over again. This was paired with a gorgeous white, (2012 Les Trois Poules Rouge, Languedoc) which a post-dinner exploration through my texts shows me I raved to my dad (a bit of a wine buff) about. Here's hoping for a bottle for Christmas...

SN: as I was saying, Lasagne of Dorset crab, beurre Nantais & pea shoots.  This first dish had dramatic impact too - it was a pure white ghostly presence beneath the sauce.  The components all impressed: pale, paper thin pasta, bright white succulent crab meat and a flourless white sauce that was highlighted with herbs and crunchy pea shoots to top it off.  It was easy to take my time over such a rich dish - especially with such an excellent counterpoint of 2012”Luccarelli", Verdeca Ampelo, Puglia. Next up was the Landes foie gras, Provence nectarine, pistachio, lavender jelly & brioche served with 2010 Pinot Gris "Les Elements", Domaine Bott-Geyl, Blebenhiem.  This was a banquet in itself and maybe a bit too much for a second course: the wine (it's paired with a Sauternes on the online menu) and those accompaniments help it but I have to confess foie gras wouldn't feature on my longest culinary wish list. I know it's shocking but there you go.

Warm smoked eel, caramelised pineapple, Alsace bacon, parsley & horseradish: I'm rather partial to the taste of fresh water eel. The firm meat is always satisfying on the tongue (perhaps I should review that whole sentence) but anyway I was intrigued how the smoked eel combined with the rest of the strong tastes on the plate and how they could possibly find any wine with which to pair it. The edgy taste of 2011 Malagousia, Domaine Gerovassiliou, Greece cut through it...it would cut through anything - the sommelier described it as impossible to pair with anything else.  Needless to say it hit the right balance between ground clearing clarity and the kind of zing you expect from Greek wine which can overwhelm some foods.  But for me there is a bit of a balance problem with this dish overall - nuanced fish, bright pineapple and dark bacon - each mouthful an event with wine that sets you puzzling on what will linger.

Cornish Red Mullet, salsify, sea aster, sweet corn w 2012 Tircollis, Pannonhalmi Apátsági Pincészet, Hungary Wow - what a combination!  All the subtle tastes we associate with the sea are here. The sweet corn (sic) is a bit of a no-no generally for me but it's creamy taste works well against the strong green flavours.  The beauty of Hungarian wine is that, tokay aside, it's not well known - but this a fine example of a subtle blend that lights up a meal but doesn't overwhelm it.  The webpage gives you of the idea of the history behind this winery and the price of this wine.

"Fish" courses (veg to the right)

LM
First for the non-carnivores amongst us: caramelized shallots, hazelnuts, balsamic and lavender accompanied by a glass of 2011 Chateau de Fontenille Blanc. I have to admit my memory of this is a little more hazy - I remember making slightly undignified noises of happiness at the wonderful mix of sweet and smoky, and the crunch of hazelnuts but it was something of a precursor to the risotto.

I think it's fair to say most vegetarian diners I know are sick of the sight of risotto by now. A lazy, claggy half-arsed staple, usually mushroom or butternut squash based, usually with the consistency and taste of Polyfilla (other brands available) - it's got to the point where risotto on the menu can quite often be a deal breaker for me, because really with all the other possibilities I feel any decent restaurant should be able to do better.

However GLaC is making me reconsider my perspective. GLaC has illustrated that when done properly, the risotto can be a thing of joy and wonder. Rich and creamy, spiked through with peas so fresh it evoked childhood memories of scoffing them fresh from the pod and earthy girolles, it was everything wonderful Italian food should be and more. The Sauvignon Blanc (2011 'Single Vineyard', Clark Estate, Marlborough) was round and fruity and cut through the richness beautifully. Consider me converted (to risotto, not Sauvignon Blanc - that ship sailed years ago)

SN: speaking of sailed ships, pigeon is being offered up now as some great rich delicacy and yet it is usually on the gamey end of the spectrum when offer in London - this is all a long way from pigeon pie of legend or indeed the idea of a plate of pigeon breasts of my youth.  It is cheap rich meat and so I'm delighted to see it on menus - but don't push the game aspect chefs!  Here was a novel way to approach this strange meat a Tagine of Bresse pigeon, cous cous, confit lemon & harissa sauce served with 2009 Swartskaap, Hermanuspietersfontein, Walker bay.  This wine from the very bottom of Africa is as classy a glass as I've tasted in a long time. It breathes the sunshine and wind of the high hillsides facing the Atlantic coast.  I thought it one of the best things about this extraordinary meal.  And the food in this course was a fine rich foil to what had preceded it.  The harissa sauce was perhaps a little too potent to work as a side offering, but against the subtle spices of the tangine.  Replace the pigeon with lamb and you have a standard dish - but done so well it's hard not to swoon and elegantly paired with that very special wine it was fantastic centre piece...a high class offering. 

LM
Next up, summer vegetables en cocotte, parmesan gnocchi, baby corn, celeriac consommé and almonds.  I must admit I had to look up what 'en cocotte' meant after the meal - can't take me to these high end places. In case I'm not the only one:

cocotte [kəʊˈkɒt kə- (French) kɔkɔt] n

1. (Cookery) a small fireproof dish in which individual portions of food are cooked and served

2. a prostitute or promiscuous woman\

While I'm intrigued by the idea of cooking with option 2, it was clearly the small fireproof dish. I've never eaten anything quite like this - a surprisingly intense celeriac consommé bathing rich, fluffy parmesan gnocchi and an assortment of summer vegetables, done to perfection. It was a surprisingly light main course (although packed with flavour) and just what was needed after the rich risotto. The wine was a 2012 Tricollis and I'm ashamed to say that although it was delicious I remember very little else about it!

SN: Fourme d’Ambert & pear chutney - 2005 Rivesaltes Tuilé, Domaine des Chênes, Languedoc-Roussillon:  The Reverand Sidney Smith declared that Heaven was eating Fois Gras to the sound of trumpets and I hope he's enjoying it but were I defining Heaven this glorious tritych of tastes to the sound of a busy restaurant and Louise's pessimism at the prospect of Man Utd's forthcoming season would be up there.  The cheese had been soaked in white wine and that 'blue' edge had melted away into something with a creamy heart and luxurious pear chutney soul. That said this Grenache blend wine from near Perpignan was just about the sexiest thing on this exciting menu - sweet, deep dark colour and an explosive aroma.  A formidable, eye-popping exciting wine.

The finale was an Apple tarte Tatin with a crème fraîche served with a exquisite port - NV Pedro Ximenez 30 YO, Dandelion Vineyards, Barossa Valley.  Quite beautifully made and presented but with that volcanic effect of caramelised apple spilling over the pastry.  It would never be my first choice on a menu but this was so well done I'd struggle to see how anyone could do it better.  But my lack of expertise - plus the cumulative effect of these gorgeous but hefty wines and the gorgeous must-try chilli mojito - had me waxing lyrical from the first mouthful.

The atmosphere and service at this restaurant is convivial and brisk: the staff are young, busy, knowledgable and polite.  Our fellow diners chatted to us - which was nice but unique in my experience of London dining.  They were interesting and funny - which helped a lot.

For me it went immediately into my top 5 London dining experiences and I suspect it will be a treasured experience for anyone who invests the time in it.