Maria Virginia Fontò

My biggest challenge was in March 2024, when I started to work for the Galvin brothers. Having previously been Assistant Head Sommelier for three years (before joining La Chapelle), I never had someone rely solely on me. I always had someone above to answer my questions and “answer for me”.  Before this, I was never fully involved in a wine programme. At La Chapelle this all changed, and I felt I had to work four times harder. For months I felt like “it’s my first day!”. It took me months to get into the rhythm. New team, new system, new programmes, new position and much bigger responsibilities. I felt like I made the wrong decision. My partner kept telling me: “if you lose, you will find something else. It’s not the end of the world”. This was devastating to me, because I don’t like failing. I remembered the day I went on holiday and when I came back, I had to deal with a problem that I had created. There was the day that I switched on completely! There was the day that I turned everything around.  One thing about the Galvin restaurants, you never get bored. There is always something to do. My ‘to do’ list constantly increases and decreases (I would say increasing), but it’s a challenge that I am now used to and it’s exciting. And I cannot wait for what comes next.

I recall experiencing this three times in my career. My very first time was at La Trompette, when I was promoted to Assistant Head Sommelier. I always had the words in my head from the ex-restaurant manager, Patra: “you know you can do it! You are good, you need to believe in yourself more!”. The second time was Marcus Waring. It was a private hire for a VIP and he was dining with them. At the end of the service Marcus came to me, shook my hand and said: “you should be looking for a Head Sommelier position” . The last one was in La Chapelle, when the general manager gave me the opportunity to take on the position as Head Sommelier, knowing that I wasn’t experienced. He trusted me from day one! He is always there supporting me and behind me.

I would say that lately I’m into Croatian, Greek, Lebanese and Slovenian wines. Not too long ago we changed the concept at both La Chapelle and Bistrot & Bar to focus on Mediterranean products. Chris Galvin wanted more Mediterranean wines to reflect the food; therefore, I contacted all my suppliers and I started to dig in. I would say they offer the greatest value for money!

Janelle Tan-Galvin. Janelle is a Customer Services Co-ordinator at Liberty Wines in London. She also co-runs a pop-up wine bar for LGBTQIA+ women, where she leads educational wine training, designs wine lists, and works across most major merchants’ wine portfolios.  I met Janelle a year ago at the restaurant, after which she returned to arrange her wedding and the more we spoke, the more I realised how determined and ambitious she was. On the day of her wedding, she spoke about her life and why she moved from New York to London and how she came into the wine world. She was a teacher and a writer in New York, and when she moved to London she decided to pursue a lifelong curiosity for wine. It’s impressive to see women interested in wine, and I can see her passion and willingness to learn more about wine whenever she comes to La Chapelle and Bistrot with her community of wine lovers.