Sven-Hanson Britt, the chef and founder of the recently-closed Oxeye, has been announced as the new head chef of Monica Galetti’s Mere in Fitzrovia.
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Britt took the decision to shut his Nine Elms restaurant, which opened in 2021, in July after a prolonged period of difficult trading conditions. Announcing the closure, he teased that “there will be something new coming, hopefully soon”, he then lashed out at the UK capital’s restaurant scene: “Soon I will be ready to add something a bit more interesting to the staid & vapid restaurant scene that London is currently plagued with.”
For now it seems that the Masterchef: The Professionals finalist has postponed his own project and joined the restaurant of one of the programme’s judges.
In an Instagram post from the Mere account, it revealed that Britt has joined the restaurant as head chef, and that he and Galetti “have been busy brainstorming exciting new dishes inspired from the Pacific Islands together”. Galetti was born in Samoa and grew up in New Zealand.
Mere was opened by Galetti and her husband David in 2017. It is named after Galetti’s late grandmother, and is pronounced as ‘Mary’ in Samoan.
The Michelin Guide, which has not awarded Mere a star yet, describes its food as: “Ingredient-led cooking features French influences and the occasional nod to New Zealand and the South Pacific, and dishes are assured, colourful and creative, with well-judged flavours.”
Britt previously worked at The Ritz as an apprentice, premier chef de partie and then sous chef, and he was also a sous chef at Wickham Vineyard in Hampshire.
