The reception for the Robot franchise, has been lukewarm, to say the least. Blogs can’t seem to get excited about either Tiny or Giant. Nevertheless, I was still interested in visiting at least one of the two all day diners in town, mainly because they serve one of my childhood nostalgic puddings – the baked alaska. Oh I wet many a diaper watching a waiter set meringue on fire to the effervescence of evaporating alcohol, right by the table. The food is Italian-American, and two restaurants that specialises in signature balls. Meatballs that is. But I didn’t get in any of the full menu action, instead I was looking for a place to brunch, on a sunny Saturday morning. Tiny Robot is situated along Westbourne Grove, and it sits on the ground floor, on top of a members only Starland Social Club in the basement, which is owned by The Rushmore Group. Let me just start by saying that I really like the decor. The space is actually quite small, with diner-style motifs, such as the green leather seats, washed out green tiled walls, aged wooden floors, and retro patterned enamel table tops. It’s great, it’s really comfortable inside. Bring on the coffee. Rum & Vanilla milkshake, Filter coffee. Woah, the rum was pretty stiff! Nice. I initially asked for a cappuccino, but changed it out to just a brew,
You might think that something as modest as a cafe on the side of a towpath, used by neighbouring residents as a jogging and cycling route, would always remain hidden and truly a gem. That can no longer the case in the internet age. This sort of concept
Tartine restaurant and bar, official website 114 Draycott Avenue, SW3 3AE | 020 7589 4981 £10.00 per tartine , £ 3.50 skinny chips £2.50 coffees A tartine is a slice of bread. The Tartine, on the other hand, is a French eating concept. The concept is simple and Italian loving Londoners familiar with the bruschetta will be comfortable with the Tartine, which are giant slices of Poilane, a type of sourdough topped with a variety of delicatables. Lightly toasted, doused with a sprinkle of olive oil and accompanied by a fresh house salad to round off a very balanced French meal. The livelihood of most tasty restaurants rests on the skill of the point man in the kitchen, making it a trend, rather than an institution ( are the top 10 places to eat today the same as it was 35 years ago? ) . But if you build an establishment around a concept, ah, now we’re on to something, a concept can be propagated and passed to the No.2 or even No.3 without much dip in quality ( dare I say it? – think McDs and KFC ). Borrowing a line from Chris Nolan’s reason for a Bat minister of Gotham: “ A man can be killed, destroyed but a symbol .…is incorruptible” ( What does this have to do with Tartine, Kang? ) Concept? Symbol? Incorruptible? Too subtle
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