Cutting London down to size

A letter arrived from Chris Galvin on behalf of himself and his brother, Jeff. It was a nice surprise. Chefs don't often write letters and certainly seldom in such an elegant hand.

Although my dinner at Galvin Bistrot de Luxe must be described as the softest of openings, I could not resist trying out in a hurry - and bringing the news of - the Galvin Two's aim, which is to address, in a small way, the infectious rash of overpriced restaurants in London.

Immediately before setting up their own venture, Chris was executive chef at The Wolseley and Jeff head chef of the Michelin-starred Picasso Room at L'Escargot in Soho. Although 10 years apart in age, they have worked together before, at L'Escargot with Martin Lam and to launch the Conran-owned Orrery in Marylebone High Street, not far from their new Baker Street premises.

With the brothers' fixed-price, three-course menus pitched at £15.50/£17.50 for lunch/dinner, this is not Orrery territory. In restaurant shorthand, you might say that Galvin is Racine north of the park.

At dinner we ate à la carte, four of us covering a lot of ground. The best first course, in my view, was also the most expensive: lasagne of Dorset crab with a velouté of girolles (£9.75). A stack of perfect pasta squares sandwiched flavoursome crabmeat wrapped in a delicate sauce that made just quiet mention of the mushrooms' boskiness.

Actually, equally as good in its way was the cheapest starter, pumpkin-and-cep soup (£4.95), with its agreeable intimations of autumn. A velvety purée was poured onto the cubed roast vegetable and sautéed mushrooms sitting in the soup plate.

Pithivier of wood pigeon with glazed chestnuts was an excellent rendition of that French classic of pastry encasing meat, with an intriguing element of sweetness bound in the sort of complex cooking once associated with grand hotels like The Connaught.

Usually when I take out friends on the job I let them choose first with the stipulation that everyone should try something different. On this occasion I bossily announced that I was going to have first dibs and what with the lasagne, my main course of black pudding and oxtail Parmentier and dessert of hot chocolate fondant and raspberries, I think I did best of all.

The deeply savoury oxtail and black pudding was served on, not under, creamy mash; the voluptuous chocolate sponge had everyone else nicking a bit. A nice seasonality informed other desserts: blackberry-and-Worcester-apple soufflé, rice pudding with roasted figs, and honey-roasted Victoria plums with almonds.

Other dishes praised included fat fillets of red mullet with shellfish (mainly mussels) Provençale and saffron potatoes, and grilled cod with coco (white) beans. I thought the daube of venison was a bit vinegary, more like a Greek stifado.