][1]Last week the 5pm Dining blog had a chat with Chris Galvin who, along with his brother Jeff, runs The Pompadour by Galvin and the Galvin Brasserie de Luxe in The Caledonian, a Waldorf Astoria Hotel. The Galvins were celebrating the first birthday of their Edinburgh restaurants.
The Brasserie and The Pomp are the most recent additions to the Galvin empire which includes several restaurants in London, two of which have Michelin stars.
As well as cooking a birthday dinner, the Galvins were in town to promote their book: Galvin a Cookbook De Luxe. Packed with their take on classic French dishes, the book also tells of the brothers’ colourful, earlier careers working with everyone from Nico Ladenis and Sir Terence Conran to Marco Pierre White.
In this latest Chewin’ the Fat chat, Chris discusses the Edinburgh restaurant scene; the importance of theatre in restaurants and exploding chickens.
How was your first year in Edinburgh?
CG: People have been very welcoming to us. We were worried about that. On a number of occasions, we have seen French chefs come to London and say, ‘OK, we have arrived. Come and get it.’ We didn’t want to do that.
We have been very well supported by Martin (Wishart), Tom (Kitchin) and lots of other chefs in Edinburgh. Roy Brett was an inspiration for us.
It has helped hugely that Craig Sandle (Executive Chef at the two Edinburgh restaurants and formerly Head Chef at number one in The Balmoral) is looking after the restaurants for us. He is the genius in the kitchens here.
We’re still learning. It’s a tough city, that’s for sure. But that makes it all the better, it gets the competitive juices going and, when people are more demanding, it makes for better dining. We just have to raise our game all the time.
We are very impressed with the talent in Scotland. We think about 90% of our staff in the kitchen are Scottish. There are lots of talented youngsters in the kitchens. Look out for Fraser Allan, a young chef that we have working for us. I think he will go far.
][7]One of The Pompadour’s signature dishes is poulet en vessie, chicken cooked in a pig’s bladder. Can you tell us a little about it?
CG: Cooking in a pig’s bladder was the original sous-vide cooking. Developing the dish was hard. When you get the bladder, it’s dried and rock hard so you have to soak it for a day or two. The chicken goes in there with vegetables and Armagnac and then it’s sealed and dropped in a pan of hot water. The liquids inside the bag expand and the bag blows up like a football.
What we didn’t know, in the early days, was that you had to protect the bag from the hot rim of the pan. We would be in the middle of service and there would be an almighty explosion after the bag touched the rim. We were getting covered with chicken and Armagnac time after time.
The chicken is carved at the table. Are you making a conscious effort to re-introduce theatricality back into dining out?
CG: We like to bring back some of the table skills. Nouvelle cuisine and sending out food which had been plated in the kitchen robbed front of house of a great deal of craftsmanship. I was always keen to bring back dishes that needed worked on at the table. We believe in experiential dining. The food is very important but the whole eating out experience needs to be great.
Do you think there is more of an appetite for theatre in restaurants now?
CG: Fashions in food come and go but I hardly ever hear the word longevity anymore. I believe that in music, art or cooking, the best works have strong foundations. I know that the French classical cooking that Jeff and I were taught is a solid platform to work from.
As soon as I heard about El Bulli, I made the pilgrimage out there and the food I ate there was incredible but I never wanted to go back. I only wanted to go once. All the young chefs who are cooking from the hip are brilliant. They are fearless.
However, when it comes to deliciousness and depth of flavour, you need solid foundations. I don’t like too many dibs and dabs of this and that and one leaf of this. I can’t get to the bottom of the flavour.
What would be your Death Row meal?
CG: Probably like most chefs, it would be something simple. Jeff and I go on gastronomic tours around France and quite often we fly back from Lyons. We go to Les Halles in Lyons and have 24 oysters between us followed by some Saint Marcellin cheese, a bottle of Chablis and some crusty bread. Ironically for two chefs, one of our favourite meals is one that doesn’t involve any cooking.
][8]