Part of the concept of Bruce Robertson’s new restaurant, The Showroom, is explained by the name – everything is on show, including and especially himself. The pan-frying, the searing and the grilling, along with the final touches (the number of time food is handled in any good restaurant is remarkable) happens in front of the diners and adds a real sense of action and drama.
This weekend we went around after ten-thirty pm to say hello and have a glass, thinking that the main action would be over and the chef would have a chance to talk. Very wrong we were. The pass was mayhem, the chefs mono-syllabic when they spoke at all. A few bigger tables had booked for similar dining times and the kitchen was going for broke to accommodate. The reality of staggered booking times hits home – when restaurants tell you that you can eat either at seven or nine, there is a real and valid reason, because many kitchens simply cannot cope with orders that exceed three tables of four or so at once. Each place has its tolerances, and they have to work within these if they want to give you food that lives up to their expectations (and hopefully your pleasure).
And so, after all the expectations that you (and others) have helped to create, I finally dined at The Showroom last night. The food was delicious (I had the duck), the service good, when it was there (sitting outside, I believe we were often “forgotten” by the obviously very busy staff). But I’m not so sure about the whole sauce thing. Or, maybe the publicity around the sauces is misleading: I was quite disconcerted to find that a choice of sauce was not included in the price of a meal. Neither do I think the meals themselves actually beg for sauces: the duck I had – and the pork belly I watched others having – seemed excellently “lubricated” in themselves. The sauces, then, appear to be an (unnecessary) extra which I’m not sure merit the kind of expectations that the media has built up…
can’t say I disagree about the fact that the sauces are often unnecessary – but am interested in knowing where else the expectation around them was built up? what other media?
Food&Home Entertaining, and Top Billing