Swan lake @ Einstein's 251 (251 Hawthorn Road Caulfield)

One of my co-workers once told me a line I will always remember about working in a law firm: "You should appear to your clients like a swan, gracefully gliding across the water while peddling ferociously underneath the water." Restaurants, cafes and bars are no different.  Service staff gracefully circumnavigate the room stopping only to dip their heads down to the water to take orders, whilst the kitchen-staff are frantically peddling away under the water.  

I always wonder how new venues can do this so well in such a short period of time.  I remember visiting Chin Chin early on and notwithstanding the massive space, huge number of diners and probably 20+ staff, all I saw were the swans gliding around.  Similarly, I was at my local coffeehouse Patricia on its second day of business and everyone was in total control.  

Most recently I visited Hawthorn Road Caulfield newbie Einstein's 251 and found it incredible that a place could deliver such outstanding results so quickly - surely here the fittings have only just been bolted in, the barista is getting familiar with the brand spanking new La Marzocco espresso machine, the staff are still memorising the table numbers and the kitchen crew are working out the nuances of the menu.  But as a paying customer, they could have been operating for a decade. 

Einstein's fit-out hits the mark - it has that modern, minimalist, deconstructed feel which has become ubiquitous throughout Melbourne, but without the contrived-sterile-de ja vu feel you get from the Newmarket Hotel, the Middle Park Hotel, the Royal Saxon, et al.  Whilst most places would unceremoniously rip off all the plasterboard to leave only chic exposed brick walls, Einstein's has left some of the plasterboard - unique - it says that all parts of a place's history are equally important, not just the parts that look good.  I like it. Looking forward to the courtyard too. 

In terms of food, with Hebrew being exchanged in the kitchen, Einstein's offers Israeli staples like shakshuka (pictured) plus many more.  My lovely companion had the most popular dish on the breakfast menu, a combination of poached eggs, grilled haloumi, hash brown, guacomole and others which was exceptional.  I had the Einstein breakfast which was like the breakfast meze option with lots of different bowls of goodies (e.g. olives, feta, tuna dip, tomato relish, etc) to go with perfectly scrambled eggs.  The coffee (Small Batch) as you can see, looked as good as it tasted - spot on.  

The main part I like about Einstein's is that it sits on what has to be one of the most desolate retail strips south of the Yarra, comprising one bottle shop, a milk bar and various other nondescript offices.  Early afternoon on a shining Sunday and with tables basking outside, people were already flocking to Einstein's from nearby residential streets.


So as I have previously noted here, you don't need to waste time trekking between Batch and Los Chicas on Carlisle to see which has the shorter queue, there are plenty of exceptional places you can go for breakfast and for most you won't even need your car to get there.