Being in love with Shoreditch has higher connotations than one can assume. Shoreditch means music, rhythm, chaos, anarchy, Cool Britannia and good food: all in right portions. The faces of Shoreditch are limitless. If somebody told me Sex and the City luxury can be found in Shoreditch, I would just sneer at the comment, and think “Why would anyone go to Shoreditch for a Sex and the City scene?”
Then I discovered one-star Galvin La Chapelle in Spitalfields thanks to toptable. It was a night of firsts both for me and Mr. Purple (first time readers a.k.a. my husband). I had never used a booking website such as http://www.toptable.com/ before. I decided to give the website a try for a candle-light dinner with Mr. Purple. The whole booking took place very easily, as I just needed to become a member. On the main website I saw an ad for various restaurants quoting: “Michelin star dining from 18.50”. ¬ The ad caught my eye. Despite watching all cooking programmes such as Masterchef or the Roux Legacy I had never eaten at a Michelin-rated restaurant. Obviously, not because I didn’t want to; I was too scared of not affording the bill with my teacher salary and ending up washing the dishes.
On a Thursday night, we booked our table for a menu of 3 courses at £29.50 at Galvin, La Chapelle. I calculated per person with 2 glasses of wine each, we might be settling for £100 at the end of the night. Not bad for a Michelin-star dining for two: one night of cheap luxury. Well, I certainly miscalculated that one! With Mr. Purple we walked into the re-designed former Victorian School Chapel (see where the name is coming from-La Chapelle). Mr. Purple was looking heart-throbbing in his navy blue suit while talking to the Maitre D’; meanwhile I was checking my black mini dress seeing if it fits to the grandiose style of the restaurant. La Chapelle was very quiet; it was as if we were in a movie where the leading man was closing down the whole restaurant to be alone with his lover. Have I ever told you that I’m a hopeless romantic? Well, you know now. We were seated on a corner where we could see the whole interior.
There was a long bar on the left hand side; just across us in the open plan kitchen chefs were running around. A massive chandelier was embracing the whole lounge, making everything look even more chic. A French looking waiter was serving us. I told him that we made our reservation through toptable.com for the 3 courses at £29.50 in an observantly edgy manner. The waiter handed us the menus with his floating fingers, his movements were really elegant. I started looking at the menu a little confusedly. There was a box saying the 3 courses for £29.50 with six separate dishes. So I asked the waiter, “Are we choosing among these dishes?” He said “You can choose whatever you like.” And, we started choosing dishes outside of the box. In the meanwhile we were saying quite laughably “Wow, this is great! We can choose whatever we want.” We chose dishes most of which we did not understand, but they sounded right somehow. Mr. Purple had Pressed guinea fowl, ham hock and foie gras, red onion marmalade as a starter and I went for the Ballotine of foie gras, pickled&poached pear, hazelnuts&toasted pain d’épice. I don’t know much about the pain d’épice, but man they were EPIC. I went into a trance with the smooth taste of foie gras, it was nothing like I had before. As I always do I started sharing food with Mr. Purple. His starter was impeccable too. Then I realised there was definitely a mistake: such quality food could never have been this cheap. However, it was too late. We had already ordered our mains and desserts, and the menu was taken away already. So we couldn’t see the prices any longer. I was trying to remember the prices on the menu. Trying to keep a straight face I said in my sweetest voice “My love, if there was some miscommunication and we end up paying the whole price will you stop loving me?” Luckily, he didn’t say yes. He put his hand on my hand, “Don’t worry, the worst case we’ll eat bread for the rest of the month.” Relieved by the solution of my husband, I leaned over the table and kissed him. In the meantime our mains were coming. Mine was an inspiring touch on a Moroccan tagine: Tagine of Bresse pigeon, cous cous, aubergine puree harissa sauce. Mr. Purple went for the Loin of Denham estate venison, organic beetroot, crosnes& chanterelles. I started closing my eyes with pleasure as morsels were melting in my mouth. We stopped speaking for a while, both absorbed in the love of our food. 
The waiter came and asked “Did you like it?” as he was collecting the empty plates. I just wanted to shout “Are you kidding? Of course we, did.” Instead I just mumbled “Thank you, it was great.” I was wondering what kind of a delicious surprise was waiting to be served with our coffee. Apple tart Tatin, crème fraîche and Blackcurrant soufflé, sorbet of Kir Royal finished our delighting luxury night with lovely tickles in our mouths. We had to ask for the bill, and we did bravely. It cost £175 including the tip. As we were going out, we held hands with Mr. Purple: both of us thinking an expensive night for a middle class couple. But again, one night at La Chapelle is totally worth 29 nights of bread eating. They don’t give those stars for nothing.
Galvin La Chapelle
