�Cotidie, which means ‘everyday’ in Latin, is a new Italian joint on Marylebone High Street, in the spot until recently occupied by Caf� Luc.

Award-winning Italian chef Bruno Barbieri is behind this venture and it is anything but everyday in terms of price or quality.

The layout is upmarket bistro, and the staff plentiful and very helpful. Jackets are taken, wine and water constantly topped up and so on.

Relaxed

One nice feature about the place is the oval tables, which mean you sit side-by-side in a relaxed informal fashion rather than facing each other – though this is probably more desirable if you are on a date than going with a pal.

On the Maitre D’s recommendation we ordered an excellent ansitz pfitscher and sipped it as we waited for our food.

As is the norm with more expensive restaurants, chef sent a few extra treats to get us going – a tasty morsel of octopus and some twice-fried chicken, which was lovely but quite hard to eat daintily.

Then came the starters and one of best appetisers I have had this year – scrambled eggs served in their shell with a hazelnut and gorgonzola topping.

Rich and uncommonly satisfying – scorch marks on the shell made me assume they had been finished with a blow torch. An inventive and fantastic morsel of food.

The steak tartare, which was tender and lightly cured, came with an intriguing pistachio fondue.

Our mains were also very good. The sea bream was reserved and elegant, with mozzarella and aubergine on the side, and the duck was deep and toothsome, with a complimentary sweet jus.

The worthy desserts were Bruno’s Macchiavelli, an indulgent ice cream and cream fusion, and the Fried Beignets, essentially mini doughnuts filled with custard, which tasted great but were quite heavy for my delicate constitution.

The food at Cotidie is of a very high standard and, while it isn’t cheap, there are enough exciting and memorable moments to make it worth shelling out.