MasterChef judge Galetti to shut Mere restaurant amid rising costs

THE celebrity chef and Masterchef judge Monica Galetti is shutting her London restaurant as the rising minimum wage hammers the hospitality industry.

Mrs Galetti said she had decided to shut down Mere, her restaurant in London’s Fitzrovia, with a “heavy heart” after opening it in 2017 with her husband David, a sommelier.

She said it was “the right time after seven years” in a post on Instagram. Mrs Galetti set up the restaurant, which was named in honour of her mother and serves South Pacific-influenced French cuisine, after rising through the ranks of Le Gavroche. She is also a judge on Masterchef: The Professionals, alongside Marcus Wareing.

It comes amid a flurry of top chefs shutting their restaurants in the face of rising costs. Hospitality bosses have been warning over pressures from rising minimum wage costs. The National Living Wage rose to £11.44 this month, the biggest cash increase since the minimum wage was created in 1998. Uk-hospitality said restaurants and bars were having to cut staff working hours because of a £3.4bn increase in their annual costs, with a significant chunk a result of higher wages.

Last month, Jason Atherton announced he was shutting his Mayfair restaurant, Pollen Street Social, citing “unsustainably high costs”.

Two-michelin starred restaurant Le Gavroche closed earlier this year, with Michel Roux Jr saying he needed to make time for a better work/life balance. Simon Rimmer, a presenter on the Channel 4 television show Sunday Brunch, announced he was shutting his Manchester restaurant, Greens, in January, blaming a rise in rents.

Tom Kerridge late last year warned that there would be a mass closure of restaurants without more government support. Mr Kerridge, who runs a string of pubs and restaurants across the UK, said: “The hospitality industry has taken a battering in recent years.

“The stark reality for many businesses is that with rising costs and ongoing challenges, time is running out and without further support from the Government they will shut their doors.”

He had signed an open letter to the Government calling for more aid, with Mrs Galetti also among the 200 signatories. It is not just staffing costs that have been rising, but restaurants have also faced higher bills for ingredients and energy, pushing many independent owners to the brink.

Research from the Federation of Small Businesses earlier this year showed more than half of small hospitality businesses had experienced a significant increase in their running costs over the past year.

Mere will serve its last customers on Tuesday April 16.