One of London’s best-loved French restaurants is to shut down after the owners said they lost a fifth of its staff in the wake of the vote to leave the European Union.
The founders of Galvin Bistrot de Luxe in Baker Street, Marylebone, announced they would close it on February 10 “with a heavy heart”.
The award-winning restaurant, known for classic French dishes such as caramelised duck confit with cassoulet à la maison, was opened by Chris and Jeff Galvin in 2005 and has been widely praised by critics.
However, joint chef patron Chris Galvin said the restaurant had faced a “perfect storm” that intensified after the EU referendum in June 2016.
Jeremy Selwyn“So many things got more difficult, rents and rates went up, then there was what happened to the pound and a lot of staff went back to Europe — about 20 per cent in total,” he said.
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Another factor has been the growth of their restaurant empire, with 11 other sites opened since 2005 — including Galvin La Chapelle in Spitalfields, Galvin At Windows, Park Lane, and the The Green Man pub in Chelmsford — which the brothers are now increasingly focused on.
In a joint statement, they said that Galvin Bistrot de Luxe had been “ahead of its time, and now it’s time to move on… tastes change and also, as creative chefs, we are restless and now want to do new things not just endlessly repeat the same style of cooking.”
All staff will be offered new roles throughout the group, which is planning new overseas launches. It is the latest in a series of closures announced since the start of the year. Italian chain Strada is axing 11 restaurants — including those in Camden, Blackheath and Clapham — and Jamie’s Italian is reported to be shutting 12 of its branches including outlets in Soho and Kingston.