Mere - Fitzrovia, London

Monica Galetti carved out a special place for herself in Britain's culinary scene serving as senior sous chef at Le Gavroche under the inimitable Michel Roux Jr as well as a judge on what is potentially the UK's favourite cooking show - Masterchef. In 2017 she has decided to go it alone with her husband David Galetti, opening their own restaurant in Fitzrovia's Charlotte Street and offering its denizens an impeccable selection of wine to complement the precise yet playful cuisine.

Mere (pronounced Mary in Samoan) is named for Monica's mother and is very much a family affair. Aside from being founded by husband and wife, one of its major design conceits is ornamental Siapo cloths (a barkcloth tapestry found in the South Pacific) that were crafted by Galetti's cousin Solomon Daniel. The room itself is very svelte, sunken into a basement with an abundance of natural light coming through floor-to-ceiling windows at eye level with the street. Upstairs you'll find an all day destination bar with an extensive list of cocktails, and downstairs there's a private dining room that accommodates up to ten guests. Monica's menu cherry picks recipes from her childhood in Samoa and New Zealand and recreates them with the deft technical precision that was hammered into her spending over a decade with Michel Roux Jr.

We ordered a bottle of Rully chardonnay from Domaine Michel Juillot which proved itself to be a dynamic complement to many of our dishes. The meal kicked off with a profiterole amuse bouche, imbued with pea puree and topped with gracile crisp ham. Starters of octopus, grilled on the pancha then topped with a caper and raising dressing, found fabulous foils in potato and piperade. Smoked duck with confit gizzard, hazelnut praline and kumquat was equally playful. A spiced pork loin nodded to central Europe, offset by glazed cheek, glazed quince and a fennel and onion choucroute. For dessert, we enjoyed a Hokey Pokey: Manjari cremeux with salted toffee, honeycomb ice cream and L&P gel. Sweet-tooths beware.

The bottom line is that Mere is fine dining par excellence as you'd expect from someone of Monica and David Galetti's pedigree.