The Bellini Project: A Window on Marylebone

There is a couple that I secretly think of as the most Beautiful Couple in Marylebone. Not a secret anymore, but anyway… I rarely see them in the supermarket, bank, dry cleaners, or any other ordinary place. But I often do see them sitting in the window of Peter Gordon’s renowned Marylebone eatery, The Providores, our

New Zealand

local that is not a tapas bar.

There has always been some confusion because it says ‘Tapa Room’ on the sign outside the restaurant. Tapa refers to the giant wall hanging in the wine bar/café. According to the information on their website, the tapa refers to a ‘wood-fibre ceremonial cloth used throughout the Pacific for celebratory feasts.’

The Beautiful Couple sit sipping their espressos, staring out at those of us who trudge by, with too much to carry and not enough time to sit like them. To onlookers, they seem appropriately framed by the front windows, like some kind of curious but misunderstood piece of contemporary performance art. At the same time, they also serve as a reminder that Providores is a sort of hipster, über-cool hang out. They are svelt, have attitude, and are a snapshot of certain aspects of life in London.

Enough about them! The Bellini I had last night at Providores was, unfortunately, not beautiful. It looked okay, but was made with some sort of standard, bottled peach puree, and the taste could only be defined as alcoholic. The sparkly Deutz from NZ, lent no body or aspect to the drink which lay flat in the glass. We were hard pressed to finish our drinks… it was truly a sad night for the Bellini.

I know that Providores do other things well, like lunch and evening meals. With our drinks, we ordered the The Tapa Plate of grilled chorizo, guindilla chillies, marinated olives, grilled artichoke, fig preserves, babaganoush and Cabra del Tietar cheese. It was delicious. As I am there most often for breakfast, I can say that the porridge with miso and apples is also yummy.

On the other hand, the breakfast granola is not appetizing. It is a weird combination of too much dried fruit, granola, and one dollop of thick, Greek yogurt. I’ve never been sure how they expect us to eat it without more liquid. The waiter offered me milk as an after thought, perhaps in sympathy knowing that the formula was too dry. I said yes eagerly, but then he forgot to bring it to me. I used the milk from my tea.

A Bellini is not a complicated drink. Prosecco, or another decent bubbly, and peach puree, preferably fresh, but a good quality bottled one will do when late summer is gone. Likewise, a bowl of granola should be an easy, basic pleasure, and a reliable staple of a good breakfast joint.

Somehow, I think both are good indicators of how much a restaurant cares. Attitude is okay, but sitting pretty with no substance (or liquid in the granola’s case) is just unfortunate.