GIANT ROBOT

Jonathan Downey’s Rushmore Group empire, stretching from New York’s Milk & Honey to Melbourne’s Bar & Grill, may have suffered a slight set-back when the much loved The East Room burnt down in a blaze of alcoholic glory, but regroups with the Giant Robot, a brand new bar, cafe, deli and diner serving up no-muss, no-fuss meals and great cocktails.

“You’ll love our balls and sliders”, they promise, a line we last heard from a randy group of Italians on Mykonos, but these guys have more substance behind the claim than either Pietro or Luigi did. The menu is gorgeously simple with a choice of meatballs on offer with simple sauces and sides, edited selections of meat dishes with an Italian flair, as well as crostini and cicchetti, salads differentiated only by number and a stellar dessert option of table-flamed Baked Alaska.

Interiors are as industrially-inspired as you’d imagine (we are sitting in a bionic belly, after all), though interpreted in a NYC Meatpacking District kind of way and there’s enough diner-influenced comfort via the sunken bar, mezzanine tables and a little lounge of sofas. There’s even a ‘Mini-Me East Room’ which accommodates up to ten guests should you be feeling nostalgic – though the rest of this space is very much about the future.