The Times
For his last “proper review” before switching to a new food column, Tim Hayward headed to “inarguably the best dining room in London” at the “beyond beautiful” Midland Grand Hotel, for its opening night under chef Victor Garvey, of Californian-inflected Sola in Soho.
Never keen on tasting menus, Tim chose a “modest” 7-course version – “I never thought I’d describe £129 as ‘a snip’, but we live in monstrous times.” It followed a pretty standard progression of French-Mediterranean cuisine: a trio of canapes, a foie gras course, fish, duck and dessert.
But Garvey – “a force of nature” in Tim’s view – made something “particularly interesting” of it. “He’s steeped in European tradition, obsessed with modern Michelin idiom, but he’s, well, American. In a good way. He doesn’t let any of that stuff get in the way and instead throws everything he’s got at it with unembarrassed enthusiasm.
“It feels good to have been there, at the start of something spectacular.”
Tim Hayward - 2025-03-09The Times
Giles Coren renewed his acquaintance with Victor Garvey, Barcelona-born with a “Californian surf-dude accent” – “my favourite kind of chef: big-hearted, full of love and enthusiasm for the game, bouncing off the walls” – who made his name in London with a string of Spanish restaurants followed by the Californian Sola.
Now installed at the Midland Grand, “Victor is doing fancy French, and quite brilliantly”. Giles was reminded of Heston Blumenthal or Ferran Adrià in the trompe-l’oiel dishes on the seven-course tasting menu (“the à la carte was a bit limited and not really the point here. Or markedly cheaper”).
“A pair of crimped tartlets presented as beautifully as anything I have ever seen inside a restaurant or out of one. The leaf-shaped, alabaster-white plate was dressed with a garland of spring flowers and the two tartlets sat inside… the gastronomic realisation of Titania’s wedding corsage, a still life in spring colours.”
Giles Coren - 2025-05-11
Drinks
Extras
