Tiny Leaf restaurant review ★★★★★

In the UK more than £19 billion worth of food is wasted every year. Restaurants are one of the biggest culprits. Silo in Brighton has already shown that waste free cuisine is as exciting as it is virtuous.
Now new restaurant Tiny Leaf in Notting Hill is bringing eco-eating to London. The brainchild of Justin Horne, former restaurant manager of Chiltern Firehouse and Sketch, Jonathan Krauss, and marketing specialist Alice Gilsenen, the vegetarian restaurant is the first “zero-waste” venue of its kind in the capital. It turns surplus organic fruits and vegetables from suppliers such as Langridge Organic Products, Planet Organic, Whole World Water, Wild Country Organics and Riverford Farms into a mouth-watering menu. These ingredients would otherwise be thrown away.



The space on the corner of Westbourne Park Road feels so zen-like you half expect to be offered a side of yoga or meditation with your meal. Instead, we were offered juice; a subtly spicy kale, citrus and ginger to enjoy with a starter of charred tomato and cucumber salad. Though the dull-green juice, requiring the occasional stir, didn’t look like much, our salads, delicately decorated with baba ganoush and beansprouts, were works of art. Despite being charred, the tomatoes and cucumber were served chilled, keeping the salad light and refreshing, with a satisfying crunch in comparison to the accompanying mozzarella and hummus.
Our main, the market-plate, changes daily, but for us it came in the form of a rich, oriental-flavoured sweet potato purée with a generous portion of roasted vegetables; crunchy broccoli combined with sweet carrots and peppers, all piled high on a bed of parsnips and beetroot. Served with a side of the bread of the day (a perfectly fluffy sourdough) and malted yeast-butter, it may have looked like a large portion, but it still left us with room for dessert. The sickly sweetness of the pineapple tart was softened by an accompanying smear of yoghurt, honey and bee-pollen.
We left satisfied by our three courses, but not uncomfortably full. It's not the kind of food that's worth traversing London for, but we suspect the laid back vive and fresh, healthy menu will make Tiny Leaf a favourite lunch/ hangout spot among Notting Hill locals. And let's hope the commendable zero waste ethos inspires other restaurants to re-think what they throw away.