Background:
On 22nd May 2007 The London Hilton on Park Lane played host to the first ever Galvin Cup; a mixology competition offering both professionals and non-professionals the opportunity to showcase their skills in front of a live panel of judges including footballer Graham Le Saux and respected members of the industry such as Gorgeous Group founder, Robbie Bargh, and Springboard CEO Anne Pierce.
This fantastic event, now heading into its third year, was the brainchild of Galvin at Windows chef patron, Chris Galvin, and general manager, Fred Sirieix (winner of the best front of house award at the Tatler Restaurant Awards). They felt it was about time that bar staff, like chefs, received recognition for their efforts and a chance to shine.
The professionals are recruited from the West End's top hotels and restaurants while the non-professionals come from catering colleges from all over Europe.
Previous winners:
In 2008 the winner for the student's competition was Lucy Child (Westminster College)
The winner for the professional's competition was Marco Ercolano (Milestones Hotel)
The special prizes went to:
Graeme Le Saux prize
Emily Williamson (Light Bar)
Robbie Bargh prize
Aaron Marshall (City college Plymouth)
Silvano Giraldin prize
Simon Wagner (Gleneagles)
In 2007, the non-professional competition saw Maxime Croizer from High School Ferrandi in Paris triumph over his peers to take 1st place, closely followed by runners up Simone Brewster from Croydon College and Gregoire Longe from Lychee Hotelier de Souillac.
1st prize winner in the professional competition went to Salvatore Maggio from The Cumberland Hotel
Renan Lejeune from Zeta Bar followed in a close 2nd place and 3rd prize was won by Manuel Soro from Salvatore at Fifty.