Galvin brothers to open Galvin at Centurion at St. Albans golf club
Opening in September, the space will have 80 covers, and serve food that’s comparable in style and price to the brother’s Galvin Bistrot de Luxe restaurant in Marylebone.
There will also be three private dining rooms and a 35-cover bar, plus a 50-cover terrace outside with firepits and views across the countryside. The interior décor will include two huge fireplaces within the bar and restaurant, and lots of greenery outside.
The management contract has so far been signed for five years, with the brothers teaming up with the club’s co-owner and managing director Scott Evans to work with the existing hospitality team, in a bid to maximise their local knowledge and existing expertise within the club.
Leonardo Clementi, who lives locally, will be general manager, and brings experience in previous managerial roles at the Hertfordshire golf club and restaurant Brocket Hall and the Auberge du Lac.
The restaurant and bar will be open to the public, but members of the exclusive club – which allows just 480 members at any given time ‒ will have exclusive access to an upstairs members-only space, with a lounge, outside balcony and lockers, and a breakfast and light lunch offer from the Galvins, including pastries and fresh breads.
The brothers will also operate a new halfway house for players on the course, which is passed at the eighth hole, and again at the tenth – meaning that players can order in advance and eat 20 minutes’ later.
Jeff Galvin commented that the aim of the restaurant would be to provide a relaxed yet ambitious site, offering the high-end feel of an exclusive golf club with the accessibility of a family orientated and good-value restaurant.
He said: “I do visit a lot of golf clubs, and very often they don’t have the greatest restaurants, and I think the ones that do, do it well. Our partners there are as ambitious as us, which is unusual to find. The club is already a world-class place. I love that ambition. It’s always that striving to improve, and they’re very open to letting us do what we do best too. It’s really exciting.”
The project is the latest in a flurry of activity for the Essex-born brothers, whose expanding restaurant group now operates Galvin at Windows, Bistrot de Luxe, The Pompadour, and Galvin La Chapelle.
More recently, the group has acquired the Green Man pub in Essex; opened Spitalfields pub Galvin Hop; launched Galvin at Athenaeum, in the 164-bedroom Mayfair hotel; and has imminent plans for at least two new ventures in Dubai later this year.
Jeff Galvin spoke to Joe Lutrario, deputy editor, Restaurant Magazine
