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Outside sits an Oyster Bar, where a dozen and a glass of sparkling is the necessary opening. It seats up to 120, which sounds like plenty until a summer weekend arrives, and the takeaway shop next door runs a fish and chip counter for anyone who prefers a picnic table to a tablecloth.

The food is where Dempsey's training asserts itself. The menu is compact and changes with the seasons and with what's available locally.

The word prodigy gets used about young chefs so often it's lost most of its force, but Allen is a reasonable candidate for the real version of it.

The Meringandan does not have a chef's bar or a natural wine list or a seasonal tasting menu with a chef's note explaining the provenance of the soil. It has chicken parmigiana. It has bangers and mash.