Sharp operator

In almost 40 years at Le Gavroche, Silvano Giraldin learned a thing or two about service. He talks to Giles Fallowfield about Charlie Chaplin, Michelin stars and how he owes it all to good dentistry

It’s hard to imagine anyone today working in the same restaurant at the highest level for nearly 40 years. But that’s what Silvano Giraldin did at Le Gavroche. It requires a special kind of loyalty, work ethic, and a love of the job. Even since Giraldin retired in September 2008, he has continued to buy wines and train staff for his long-term employer Albert Roux. This, plus various other consultancy work and his role as chairman of Les Arts de la Table, keeps him as busy as he wants to be.

When we meet, Giraldin has just returned from a skiing holiday in the French Alps. He looks trim and fit, belying his 62 years. You imagine that he’s an unflashy but accomplished skier, gliding over the slopes with the same proficiency as he moved between tables in Le Gavroche. He was made manager in just his fifth year there and it was his first job in Britain. ‘It was a different era then,’ he muses. ‘When I first came to London I remember them looking in my mouth to see if I had all my own teeth to make sure I was healthy! Imagine that happening now.’

Born in Padua near Venice in 1948, Giraldin’s only career options were heavy industry, catering or farming. The choice was clear and while studying for four years at catering college in Abano Terme he trained in hotels in Venice and at Nice’s very grand Hotel Negresco.

‘Catering is a very tough industry. You’re either born to it or you don’t want to do it at all,’ explains Giraldin. ‘It’s very hard for young people, the hours they are expected to work, especially when they see people out enjoying themselves. For me there was no choice.’

After training he left Italy, vowing not to return until he had learned to speak French, English and German fluently. ‘My mother used to joke that I never came home because I didn’t make it to Germany. I intended to spend two years in England, but I never left.’

The reason why Giraldin never made it to Germany can be summed up in two words: Albert Roux. Back in 1971, Giraldin needed a green card to work in the UK and after taking one look at his CV, Roux obtained one for him. Giraldin still remembers their first meeting vividly. ‘I was told that the boss would arrive shortly to take me to lodgings in Wandsworth Road. When a young man in overalls with fashionable long hair turned up and told me to follow him, I said I was waiting for Mr Roux. But it was Albert, not in the suit I expected, as he’d come straight from Smithfield Market.’

At that time Albert went to market every morning to buy all the food, which he then delivered himself to the three restaurants he ran with his brother Michel: Le Gavroche, Le Poulbot and Le Gamin. The Roux brothers would take it in turns to run the kitchen or front of house for a month at a time. They’d been running Le Gavroche like that since it opened its doors in Chelsea in 1967.

‘The kitchen was tiny, like a dungeon, but we did 80 covers a night. It was very tough,’ remembers Giraldin. ‘In October 1972, the year after I joined, the Roux brothers bought The Waterside Inn in Bray and Pierre Koffman was installed there as head chef.’ At that time there simply weren’t many top-notch restaurants in the capital. ‘In total there were just 10 one-star restaurants in London in the first UK Michelin Guide in 1974,’ says Giraldin.

The Roux brothers boasted an impressive three stars between them at Le Gavroche, The Waterside Inn and Le Poulbot. The duo built on this success in the rest of the decade and continued to work together right up until a new site for Le Gavroche was found in Upper Brook Street in the summer of 1981. ‘Albert told Michel, “I’ll take Le Gavroche and you have The Waterside Inn”,’ explains Giraldin. ‘We moved in July, closing on a Saturday night in Chelsea and opening on Monday in Brook Street to do 50 covers at lunchtime and 70 for dinner – and it’s never changed since.’

How does Giraldin account for the enduring popularity of Le Gavroche? ‘It’s the consistency, first under Albert and now under his son Michel, that keeps the customers coming back,’ he says. ‘There are regulars today who came when I was working there nearly 30 years ago. You can get anyone to make a first visit but to get them back year after year you have to give them quality.’

Giraldin takes particular pride in the fact that Le Gavroche became the first restaurant in the UK to receive three Michelin stars in 1982. It lost that third star in 1993. Was this a set-back? ‘It was certainly a blessing when we had it,’ says Giraldin. ‘But when it was lost, although we never knew why, it was immaterial. The regular customers that keep coming back are what make it the place it is.’

Over the years he has, of course, seated plenty of famous names. In the early 1970s Charlie Chaplin, who was staying at the Savoy, came for dinner on a Tuesday night. ‘He said: “The concierge sent me because the food is good. I hope I am not going to be disappointed.” At the end of the evening he asked if he could return the following night and he ate with us five nights in a row,’ says Giraldin. ‘We still have his autograph in the guest book with “I had a wonderful meal” written under it. Robert Redford’s signature is on the same page saying “me too”.’

Though he has worked with some fairly volatile chefs at Le Gavroche – Pierre Koffman, Marco Pierre White and Gordon Ramsay to name but three – Giraldin remains the soul of discretion and tales of tantrums are conspicuous by their absence. Instead, we talk about the people he has trained – ‘my boys’ as he affectionately calls them. Many are now general managers at other celebrated venues (see box).

Giraldin ran training sessions at Le Gavroche every Saturday for half an hour before service – everyone had to attend. Some senior staff didn’t like it but Giraldin told them: ‘If you don’t come I’ll sack you.’ Emmanuel Landré, Giraldin’s carefully groomed replacement, still does the same every week, which obviously gives Giraldin some satisfaction. But perhaps the greatest testament to Giraldin’s passion for his trade is that his youngest son, Sebastian, has followed him into the business, currently a sommelier at Selfridges. ‘He enjoys it, but doesn’t make any money,’ says Giraldin.

Obviously there have been massive changes in the industry over the past three decades since Giraldin started at Le Gavroche. ‘There’s been a culinary revolution in Britain,’ he says. ‘The general quality of restaurants in London has improved immeasurably and the variety on offer is second to none.’ And what constitutes good service in today’s restaurants? ‘The best service you don’t see. You only notice service when it’s bad. People come to eat and drink and enjoy themselves. They only notice when something is missing.’

Editorial feature from Imbibe Magazine – May/June 2010

Add your comment

Please sign in or register if you'd like to comment.