Monica Galetti

Monica Galetti
Born Monica Fa'afiti
1975 (age 42–43)
Samoa
Spouse(s) David Galetti

Monica Galetti (née Fa'afiti, born 1975) is a Samoan-born New Zealand chef who is based in London, England.[1]

Early life

Galetti was born in Samoa, and was initially raised by two aunts as her mother had moved to Auckland, New Zealand, for work.[2] At the age of eight, Galetti moved from Samoa to Wellington, New Zealand, and lived there with her parents and five siblings.[3][4][5] In the early 1990s, she studied for a diploma in hospitality at Central Institute of Technology, Upper Hutt.[5]

Career

After completing her studies, Galetti worked at Lower Hutt restaurant Timothy's. The owner sent her to cooking competitions in Australia, America and Europe, and she began to look for a position in London by sending her CV to top restaurateurs. The first offer she received was from Michel Roux Jr - a beginning position as first commis at his two-Michelin-starred restaurant Le Gavroche, well below her position in Wellington as chef de partie.[5] However, she accepted the offer and moved to London in 1999. She worked rapidly through the sections of the kitchen and became senior sous-chef, a position she held until 2015.[6][7][8] She was the first woman to hold such a senior position at the restaurant.[5]

While working for Roux, she launched, and was Head Chef of, the restaurant Le Gavroche des Tropiques in Mauritius.[9]

She has been a judge on the BBC series MasterChef: The Professionals since 2009, as well as a presenter on other food-related television programmes.[10]

It has been announced that along with her husband David she will be opening a new restaurant in London in January 2017 called 'Mere'. This has been achieved with backing from WSH chairman Alastair Storey.[11]

Galetti serves Samoa as its UK Tourism Ambassador.[1]

Publications

  • Galetti, Monica (2012), Monica's Kitchen, Quadrille Publishing, ISBN 978-1849491037 [12]

Personal life

In 2004, Galetti married French-born sommelier David Galetti, the Head Sommelier at Le Gavroche.[13] They have one daughter, born in 2006.[2]

References

  1. 1 2 "Chef Monica Galetti - MasterChef Elite". www.samoafood.com. Retrieved 2016-10-24.
  2. 1 2 "Kiwi chef: Moving from Samoa to NZ was the saddest time of my life". New Zealand Herald. 2014-06-17. ISSN 1170-0777. Retrieved 2016-10-24.
  3. ↑ "My Secret Life: Monica Galetti, chef, 35". The Independent. 2010-11-13. Retrieved 2016-10-24.
  4. ↑ "Chef Monica Galetti on Samoa, Sean Connery, and her life in travel | Loop Samoa". www.loopsamoa.com. Retrieved 2016-10-24.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Jewell, Stephen (2011-03-26). "Monica Galetti: Kitchen mistress". New Zealand Herald. ISSN 1170-0777. Retrieved 2016-10-24.
  6. ↑ "Le Gavroche - The Team". Le-gavroche.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-10-24.
  7. ↑ Rayner, Jay (2011-01-22). "Michel Roux Jr and Monica Galetti: master and protege". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2016-10-24.
  8. ↑ "MasterChef's Monica Galetti leaves Le Gavroche". Thecaterer.com. Retrieved 2016-12-08.
  9. ↑ "Strictly come cooking with Masterchef's Monica Galetti". Evening Standard. 2010-11-04. Retrieved 2016-10-24.
  10. ↑ BBC Two - MasterChef: The Professionals - Episode guide
  11. ↑ "Monica Galetti to open Mere in January 2017". Thecaterer.com. Retrieved 2016-12-08.
  12. ↑ "Chef live chat: Monica Galetti". The Guardian. 2012-10-16. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2016-10-24.
  13. ↑ "The Team". Le Gavroche. Retrieved 2016-12-08.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.