Meet the chef: Oliver Marlowe of Ganymede, The Hunter’s Moon and The Apollo Arms
We catch up with the chef director behind three of London’s favourite pubs
Oliver Marlowe is a huge advocate for the great British pub. Having spent his teenage years working inside their kitchens, before establishing a career directing them, his own culinary concept was always going to be a simple one: a countryside pub in the city. And, rather unsurprisingly, it’s been a hit with Londoners.
His empire, officially known as the Lunar Pub Company, encompasses The Hunter’s Moon in Chelsea (opened in 2019), Belgravia’s Ganymede bar (2021) and The Apollo Arms, which launched in Clapham Old Town last year to prove that this formerly maligned corner of South London is, indeed, a foodie destination. The trio of eateries aims to redefine the traditional pub – lukewarm food and beer-sodden carpets, begone – with its inventive European-inspired menus, upmarket service and thoughtful interiors.
Marlowe heads up the food offering across all three, and spends time in the kitchen each season creating new dishes using local produce with his team of chefs. Walk into any of his establishments and you can expect to see produce from top quality suppliers, including La Fromagerie, Mersea Oysters and Fish For Thought, used in stand-out dishes such as scallop ceviche with wasabi mayonnaise, flat iron steak with Aspen fries, and peach, vanilla and lime baked Alaska.
The Hunter’s Moon, Chelsea
His love for a pub, however, doesn’t mean he’s unappreciative of fine-dining fare – he actually cut his culinary teeth at Michelin-starred eateries such as The Glasshouse – and when asked for his go-to foodie destination in London, was quick to answer with a starry establishment. So, as many pubs across the UK start to call last orders and are faced with rising costs and the threat of closure, how does Marlowe keep his passion for the pub alive? And how did he carve out a position for each of his establishments in London? We find out.
I grew up with three brothers, two older and one younger. We are all very close but quite competitive and all chose to do very different things for our careers – which is probably why we’re still so close! All of us worked in pubs and restaurants from around 13 years old. Pot washing, stacking bar shelves, just generally helping out. While we all love hospitality, I would say I fell in love with it, and from that age never wanted to do anything else.
Mum’s spaghetti bolognese. She cooks it for two days making this glorious ragout and adds a whole lemon to cut through the richness. It’s amazing – and still is!
I was 14 years old in a Malaysian restaurant in Suffolk. As soon as I could, I moved to London at 16 and started working in Michelin star restaurants with some amazing industry figures like Anthony Boyd and Dan Mertl at The Glasshouse.
We really wanted to do a proper food-driven pub in London with a countryside atmosphere. There are some amazing pubs in Chelsea but no one was doing that and we knew people would love it.
Ganymede, Belgravia
With Ganymede we looked at Belgravia, an amazing part of London, but found there was nowhere which could work both as a destination, a neighbourhood local or a place for a business meeting. We could see that, which seemed crazy given the area.
Seasonality. Personality. Honesty. We have a great team of chefs and we offer honest food which we love eating.
Scallop ceviche. We’ve had it from the start and every time we try to take it off to try something new we get immediate complaints!
The Apollo Arms, Clapham
La Trompette. They’re providing two Michelin star food and service in a one Michelin star restaurant. It’s flawless from start to finish.
The lads at Fallow are doing really impressive stuff and would love to see what Mountain’s all about if a table ever becomes available!
Visit ganymede.co.uk
