Scran Ah, scran. What a tremendous word it is. It might be my favourite general descriptor for food, which is probably why I chose it for the Scran Salon which ran from 2014-17. It is more famously the epithet used by Tom Kitchin in his Scran & Scallie and Southside Scran restaurants. I was intrigued …

Lady Libertine The Bon Vivant was recently recognised as the best restaurant bar in the UK for the second year running at the Class Bar Awards. This is a major industry award in a competitive sector in which Edinburgh excels.  Bon Vivant owner Stu McCluskey’s burgeoning empire now extends to four bar restaurant sites across …

Rose Theatre Cafe One of the places that opened in my absence that I was most keen to visit was the Rose Theatre Cafe, on Rose Street. My dear old Mum used to attend the premises in her youth when it was the Charlotte Chapel. Over the past few years it has increasingly been used …

Fortuna Coffee My tour of places that have opened during my absence from Edinburgh continued with a quick stop at Fortuna Coffee Bar on Queen Street. Just a couple of doors down from Panda & Sons, I think the space is newly converted hospitality premises or at least I can’t remember there being anything like …

The Perch The demise of The Dogs was sad news indeed as it had been a city centre mainstay of high quality fare for many a long year. It was heartening to see another independent operator take over the site so I was keen to check things out upon my return to the city. From …