Michelin-starred chef 'shuts down restaurant' in 'the finest dining room in London' after just six months

Daily Mail​

4 days ago

A Michelin-starred chef has shut down his restaurant in the finest dining room in London after just six months.
Victor Garvey at the Midland Grand, based out of the St Pancras London hotel near the famous train station of the same name, only opened in February.
But it now appears to have served its last diners, after stopping taking bookings and staff telling The Caterer it closed its doors on July 15.
The eponymous American chef had only just replaced Irish cook Patrick Powell's The Midland Grand Dining Room in the five-star hotel's 65-seater dining room.
It came after he won his Michelin star, the highest culinary gong, in 2021, for his Californian restaurant SOLA in the capital's Soho area, which opened in 2019.
It is as yet unclear why the restaurant appears to have closed without warning, with the website down and guests unable to make bookings.
Mr Garvey, working out of what is widely considered one of London's most opulent dining spaces, charged an eye-watering £139 for a seven-course tasting menu.
There was also an even more lavish 14-course tasting experience, alongside the normal a la carte menu, The Standard reports.
Dishes included red tuna, with white peach, roasted leek and a green almond sorbet - as well as a lobster served out of its shell with its own roe, along with spiced carrot.
The two businesses that have most recently occupied the restaurant space were called after the building's original name - The Midland Grand Hotel.
The Grade I-listed Gothic revival building in central London is one of the most iconic sights in the capital - with a restaurant space equally as impressive.
Upon taking over the historic dining room earlier this year, Mr Garvey said: 'A dining room of this stature deserves a menu that matches its grandeur.'
Calling the space 'one of the best dining rooms in the world', he described the menu as 'honouring the foundations of classical French cuisine while embracing modernity'.
When the restaurant launched, he told The Caterer: 'A chef only gets an opportunity like this, where they are offered a big dining room, once or twice in their life.
'It happened to Joël Robuchon, to Alain Ducasse, all the big guys, and I'm very excited.'
He had explained the menu as a reinvention of traditional French dishes: 'We're making it sexier, we're making it lighter.'
Mr Garvey described being approached by St Pancras London hotelier Harry Handlesman to take over the space.
'He wanted to have a Michelin star here and for it to be one of the best restaurants in the world and one of the best dining rooms in the world', he explained.
'I thought - I'm pretty sure I can do that.'
The restaurant's adjoining Gothic Bar currently remains open.
The apparent closure of Victor Garvey at the Midland Grand will be a shock to food lovers across the capital, after it received glowing reviews from the country's top critics.
Giles Coren said: 'Victor is doing fancy French now, and quite brilliantly, of course.'
The chef's predecessor Mr Powell was behind the room's relaunch in April 2023 but he left just over a year later, in July 2024.
He said at the time: 'The time has come for me to move on and I am hugely excited for the future and my next chapter.'
Mr Powell also left his restaurant Allegra, in London's Stratford area, at the same time, which he also worked on with St Pancras London hotelier Harry Handlesman.
The Irish chef is currently working as culinary director at French and New York-inspired restaurant One Club Row in the capital's Shoreditch area.
The building is more than 150 years old, with several hotels having been run out of it over the years.
The Midland Grand Hotel was designed by English architect Sir Gilbert Scott - also behind the Albert Memorial in London's Kensington area - and built in 1873.
But it shut down in 1935 and was nearly demolished in the sixties - before it was reopened as The Renaissance in 2011, after being used as railway offices.
The restaurant was relaunched as The Gilbert Scott and run by British celebrity chef and MasterChef: The Professionals judge Marcus Wareing until the pandemic.
The building is now known as the St Pancras London Autograph Collection hotel and managed by Marriott International.
But the name change came only last month, when Marriott transferred the hotel from its Renaissance brand to its Autograph Collection.
The dining space appears to have closed only just over a month after this rebrand.
Renaissance hotels aim to give guests 'curious, unique and local experiences', according to the brand's website - while Autograph ones offer a distinctive interior.
As part of the rebrand, the hotel's 254 rooms and suites have been undergoing extensive renovation since January.
Marriott boss Sandra Schulze-Potgieter explained at the time: 'St Pancras London is exactly the kind of property Autograph Collection was created to celebrate - rich in character, rooted in place, and full of story.
'This new chapter brings that story to life in a way that feels both intentional and unforgettable.'
Mr Garvey was born in New York to an American father and French-Spanish mother, moving to Barcelona aged six.
He has worked in restaurants across Spain and in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Tokyo and Copenhagen before arriving in London.