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After a good couple of years in the planning; Chris and Jeff Galvin's new French restaurant La Chapelle is complete and open for business.

Yes Chef! was lucky enough to nab an invite to the launch party, where the great and good of the food and restaurant industry did what they do best (eat, drink and schmooze) alongside friends and family of the brothers.



Chris Galvin had the twinkle of an excitable schoolboy, which was quite fitting given that the stunning 19th century, grade II listed St Botolph's Hall site was formerly a girls' school; and some of the ex head girls also made an appearance to see how the building in Spital Square has been converted from school to restaurant.

As well as fine dining restaurant La Chapelle (which takes its name from the Rhone wine of Hermitage) and some rather breath-taking private dining up on the mezzanine level (pictured above); the brothers have created Café de Luxe, a contemporary all-day cafe which will serve more informal, affordable fare including wood-fired pizzas; and an interconnecting aperitivo bar, which will serve light dishes and oysters - some of which we got a taste of at the launch.



The site is visually arresting - its main fine dining area enclosed by smooth shining stone arches and the restored, wooden-beamed roof giving it a majestic grandeur that is softened by the warmth of glinting chadeliers.

Yes Chef! also managed to get a sneaky-peak at the open kitchen, which sits in pride of place in the main hall, surrounded by a bar, and take a closer look at the wood-fired oven which the brothers have installed, along with an expert Italian wood-fired specialist chef to create dishes for it.

Nearer the end of the evening, we managed to grab a few minutes with Chris' wife Sara, who will be the hostess of the restaurant and was telling YC about how she first met Chris when they were both working at the Lanesborough hotel. A nicer culinary family you couldn't hope to meet, and YC wouldn't be surprised, given the location, family-run set-up and skilled cooking of Jeff Galvin, who's at the helm in the kitchen, if the Michelin inspectors don't come a-knocking rather soon... 

Well, the AA Hospitality Awards at the Park Lane Hilton earlier this week were a hoot. After a champagne reception and general schmoozing among the big-hitters in our industry (Yes Chef! spotted Jason Atherton, Benoit Blinn from Le Manoir and Helene Darroze on entering the room) we all moved through to the dining room for the main event.

This year the AA had gone all out with the catering - enlisting the help of three of London's most well-respected chefs, with Eric Chavot (recently departed from The Capital) doing the salmon starter, Chris Galvin (who's in the throws of opening a major new restaurant) providing the main beef course and Gary Rhodes crafting a lemon chiboust cream dessert.

Each course was incredibly impressive given the chefs were catering for much bigger numbers than they're all used to - 800-odd industry professionals, each with very high standards. We certainly wouldn't fancy having a go at that. But they took it in their stride and later in the evening, after the frantic service was over, Yes Chef! caught up with a very relaxed-looking Chris Galvin, who was enjoying a glass of champagne up on the 28th floor in his Galvin at Windows restaurant.

We also bumped into Eric Chavot, who was looking tanned and chilled out after his holiday in hometown Archachon. He didn't let us into what his plans are now he's a free agent, but we'll be keeping a very close eye on him from now on...

And what of the main draw - the awards? It was a particularly triumphant night for table 29 (which some were dubbing 'the naughty table'), which saw three of its chefs stand up to receive awards - Glynn Purnell winning Restaurant of the Year (England) for his Purnell's restaurant in Birmingham, Sat Baines being the only 5-star rosette achiever for his Nottingham restaurant with rooms, and Claude Bosi achieving four rosettes for Hibiscus in London.

Raymond Blanc (who recently graced the cover of Yes Chef!) was recognised for his years in the industry with the Lifetime Achievement Award - giving a passionate and self-deprecating speech, while last issue's cover star Marcus Wareing picked up the Chef's Chef award. It was also a happy night for Richard Corrigan, who won Best Restaurant (London) for his venture in Mayfair, while the lovely Helene Darroze got up on stage to pick up the Connaught's award for won Hotel of the Year for London.

All the excitement made for some tired chefs by the end of the night, and, according to Yes Chef! writer Emma Sturgess, some of them were finding it difficult to keep their eyes open. Of course, Yes Chef! partied the night away with the best of them...