Galvin: ‘It’s no wonder pubs are closing down with food like this’
Galvin and his brother Jeff, who run seven restaurants in London and Edinburgh, are in the process of building a pub estate. They have acquired the Green Man in Chelmsford, Essex, but are working with Christie & Co to build a portfolio of pubs, which could reach 20.
He said he would seek to bring the ethos and standards of his restaurants to pubs insisting “the way we run our first pub will be no different to how we run our operation in Harrods”.
He said the food at Galvin pubs would focus on Great British pub classics “with a twist”.
He said: “I have been eating in a lot of pubs recently and it’s no wonder they are closing. A lot of them don’t deserve customers’ business. There’s a lot of cheap rubbish and cold vegetables and tough meat.
“We are not setting out to totally transform the pub classics but we do think they can be improved.”
He said the price point would be kept “at the mid-range” and insisted “we’re not chasing any accolades here, we just want to run a great pub with great food”.
He added: “It’s really exciting to work with local producers. We want to celebrate ingredients from East Anglia. While our restaurants are probably 60% to 70% French cuisine this is a real opportunity for us to work with local suppliers.”
He said the Green Man would be “a great British pub, not a gastro pub”.
He said: “We will have the restaurant but we will also have a communal area with the feel of a classic pub – the dartboard and the cricket trophies. We want it to be for the community.
“I’m really excited about the possibilities with craft beer. I’ve spent such a lot of my life involved in wine and it’s been great to get involved with the craft beer scene and found out about all these great independent breweries that are out there – loads of them in Essex.”
On the scale of ambitions, Galvin said: “The important thing is that each site is done to the best of our ability. We want each one to almost be an institution.
“We will work bloody hard and bring our ethos and all our standards. The way we run our first pub will be no different to how we run our operation in Harrods. We have one of the best training cultures in the restaurant business and that will follow through to the pubs.
“In five years I don’t know if we’ll have one or ten pubs. I would like to get to 20 but it depends on the quality of each one.”
