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This second issue of GNAW is centred around the very loose idea of ‘community’, a somewhat nebulous concept that doesn’t have one ﬁxed meaning, which is handy for a magazine pitch callout, but slightly trickier when it comes time to present your ﬁndings.

Sometimes that community is circumstantial – your favourite local pub is your favourite, partly because it’s local... unless it isn’t actually local, and you still love it. Other times community builds on structures that exist elsewhere in our lives – but what happens when times change and those structures atrophy or dissolve? Where does that community spirit go? You can build community in both opposition and solidarity, as in the case of Scottish boycotts of Coca-Cola. You can even make community out of shared isolation, and form a community that itself breaks down that isolation, as the folk at Leith Community Croft show. Our pubs,

shops and produce directory at the back of the mag represents the full length and breadth of Scotland; some of those spots deﬁnitely fall into the ‘beloved by the community’ camp, but who’s deciding what that community is? It’s not me, is it?

That’s the beauty of talking about food through the lens of community; every community, every place, every body is made up of a Venn diagram of a set of interests, tastes and needs. Consider this magazine as something of a spirograph of all of those Venn diagrams. Some of them overlap or intersect, some of them are off in their own corner, and some of them might not initially seem to have much to do with food – but put them all together, and they say something hopeful, sad, exciting, empowering and hunger-inducing about the state of modern Scotland. There’s also a very cool full-page image of a crab somewhere near the back, so look out for that. [Peter Simpson]

ARTIST BIO

Zoﬁa is a Polish illustrator based in Scotland, who specialises in bold, playful designs, full of incidental shapes, wobbly lines, and self-made textures. Her work is created by mixing drawing, printmaking, and digital techniques.

zoﬁa-chamienia.com I: @zoﬁa.cham.illu

Peter Simpson GNAW Editor

Nauticus, Leith: mine's a pint, a cocktail and a light concussion from bashing my head on the antique diving helmet.

Anahit Behrooz Events Editor

Leith Depot, big fries, big Pepsi, no one speak to me :)

George Sully

Sales and Brand Strategist

The trusty ol' Blue Blazer in Edinburgh. Old Man Pub par excellence.

Emilie Roberts

Media Sales Executive

The Harbour Bar in Ireland. Sorry. But it was like, voted best pub in the world, so. It's got cats and ﬁreplaces.

Rosamund West Editor-in-Chief

I want to say the Star Bar but the last two times I was in it was ﬁlled with braying yahs so I'm concerned.

Dalila D'Amico

Art Director, Production Manager

Inn Deep, love to sit by the water and pretend I’ve got my shit together.

Tallah Brash Music Editor

Di ers, of course, but also Mosque Kitchen at the actual Mosque, if that counts?

Phoebe Willison Designer

Probs Rose Reilly cause I am a basic went-to-artschool girlie living in the Southside.

WHAT'S YOUR FAVOURITE PUB OR CAFE?

Sandy Park

Commercial Director

The Starbank Inn. Great pub grub, great staff and two famous regulars named Titan and Terra (they're St Bernard's).

Ellie Robertson

Digital Editorial Assistant Verse in Shawlands have some incredible coffee creations and began my conversion to annoying matcha girlie x.

Jamie Dunn Film Editor, Online Journalist

Common Ground in Battleﬁeld. Sausage rolls as big as your head, fun mural, proper community vibes.

Laurie Presswood General Manager

I'm keeping that a secret but let's just say it's on a street Google lists as 'Unnamed Road, County Donegal'.

Ema Smekalova Media Sales Executive

Babka (lil bakery/cafe by the Meadows) has my heart <3.

Find your nearest copy of our free monthly magazine, The Skinny, here:

10 In Goth We Trust: Ali Leetham looks at the legacy of the Gothenburg Pub in Scotland’s mining communities, and the possible future for their radical model

20 Nought Your Usual: Great beer, vocal support for their queer commu nity, and, every so often, a large group of cats – as Rachel Ashenden explains, Leith pub Dreadnought has it all

24 No Can Do: Scotland is a historic holdout against the dominance of Coca-Cola; as Myrtle Boot learns, a new wave of BDS boycotts and actions have brought our relationship with Coke centre stage

30 In Your Corner: Kaitlyn Willoughby sings the praises of the humble 24-hour corner shop

Photo: Maria Morava

Photo: Ali Leetham

Photo: Denise Jans, courtesy Unsplash

Image: courtesy of Ines Chapelo

36 Common Ground: Lauren Cameron looks at how Leith Community Croft – and the people growing on it – are rethinking food, community and what it means to belong

44 GNAW Directory: Some of our favourite pubs, shops and producers, plus reﬂections on the community found in venues across Scotland

80 Familiarity Through Food: People always say that food offers a way to break down barriers and build community – in the case of Arouny Prasimay and her Lao family, that applies quite literally

Image: courtesy Starter Culture

Photo: Lauren Cameron

Photo: Samuel Yongbo, , courtesy Unsplash

CHILDREN

DANCEHALL BLUES

KATHRYN GORDON: A JOURNEY OF FLIGHT

SIGNOR BAFFO

FRISKY’S RESHUFFLE

CIRQUE KALABANTÉ: WOW (WORLD OF WORDS)

IN GOTH WE TRUST

After 115 years, the Prestoungrange Gothenburg closed its doors in January. It was one of the last Goth pubs in Scotland – Ali Leetham looks at its surviving relatives, and ﬁnds a history of temperance, solidarity, community spirit, and dramatic decor

When you hear the words ‘Goth pub’, you might picture a dank bar full of moody teenagers in dark clothing, but Goths are actually named after Gothenburg in Sweden, where this particular concept originated. The idea? A pub model which encouraged moderation while helping the local community. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, dozens of pubs opened across Scotland under the Gothenburg system, which aimed to discourage heavy drinking and promote rational pursuits. Shareholders in Goth pubs were only entitled to a 5% return; all other proﬁt had to be used to beneﬁt the community.

The fad for Goths in Scotland began in the 1890s. Although drinking to capacity had long been considered a national virtue, the temperance movement was booming in popularity, with many adherents supporting the Gothenburg system. Opening more pubs may seem like an unlikely solution to Scotland’s drink problem, but many in the movement only advocated moderation rather than abstinence, or at least swapping dangerous spirits for nutritious beer.

The Demon Drink

For one thing, the austere interiors of some early Goths discouraged people from staying long enough to get drunk.

Craig Mair, a local historian writing a book on Goths, describes how the Gothenburg in Fallin near Stirling was originally a “drab, dour, plain sort of place” with “no tables, chairs, heating or even lighting”. This didn’t last long, however. In fact, some Goths, such as the Black Bull Inn in Dalkeith, tried the opposite tactic. The pub was instead a civilised environment, Mair explains, “the idea being to make it so swanky that men were encouraged to behave themselves.”

The outside of many Gothenburgs also had a unique character: a sort of overblown Garden-City-meets-Artsand-Crafts aesthetic that made them stand out from the rest of the street.

Mark Mulhern, a senior research fellow at the University of Edinburgh who has studied Goths, su ested their obvious design was another way to discourage drinking. “An awful lot of pubs at that time were just somebody’s front room, and people would slink into the howff,” he points out, whereas you can’t

The Dean Tavern

secretly slink somewhere like the Armadale Goth with its imposing clock tower over the entrance.

Goths also gave people an alternative to drinking by encouraging healthy, intellectual activities. Most Goths had a separate games room or

“People realise that by using the Goth, they are supporting their own place”

Mark Mulhern

reading room where patrons could linger without drinking. In fact, the small function room at Newtongrange’s Dean Tavern is still called the Temperance Lounge. The pubs also funded sober facilities for self-improvement, such as libraries and working men’s institutes.

From Pits to Pubs Gothenburgs were especially prevalent in east-central Scottish mining communities. In 1896, the Fife Coal Company established Scotland’s ﬁrst Goth in the Hill of Beath mining village. Roughly 60 more opened across Scotland in the following couple of decades, mostly in Fife and the Lothians.

As many mining towns were built from scratch around a pit, they didn’t already have a pub, or any infrastructure. It’s easy to see why coal companies might allow or even invest in Goth pubs that would encourage moderation among workers and pay for local facilities, removing some of the ﬁnancial burden from the companies.

Miners themselves also established and managed Goths. Fallin’s Gothenburg was founded by a mix of

The Goth Tower

miners, managers, a mine cashier and a doctor. Mair theorised the reason for this inter-class collaboration was that all of the founding committee were bowlers. This is a reasonable su estion, given that the ﬁrst thing the pub funded was a bowling green.

Many of the Goths played a vital role during miners’ strikes, providing food and donations. During the 1984-85 strike, Polmaise Colliery at Fallin earned the epithet of the most militant pit in Scotland, being the ﬁrst to down tools and the last to return to work. Mair recalls that “one of the wash houses in Fallin, which had a boiler, was used to cook up food to provide for the families of the

miners,” with The Gothenburg donating ingredients.

Giving Back

Each Goth would have a committee that decided how best to beneﬁt the community with the pub’s proﬁts. In brand new mining towns, Goths could provide basic infrastructure such as pavements and electric lighting. They also bankrolled new building projects, like a cinema in Kelty, a bathing pool near Fallin, and a new pitch and pavilion for Newtongrange Star F.C. Many of them funded a local nurse before the creation of the NHS. Fiona Holborn, secretary of The Goth in Armadale, explained that the adjoining

The Dean Tavern

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shop used to house Nurse MacAffee, whose wages, uniform and equipment were provided by The Goth.

Donations to local clubs and causes have been a staple of Goths since the beginning. In the early 20th century, the Armadale Goth donated to the Armadale Public Band, the senior football club and local hospitals. Over in Fallin, The Gothenburg supported the Polmaise male voice choir, the quoiting club and the Boy Scout troop. Meanwhile, Dean Tavern was handing out money to the Burns Club, the ﬂower show and the Homing Pigeon Club.

celebrate together: “We sometimes give away wee gala day bags.”

Changing Times

“If Goths are still going when I snuff it, I’ll be surprised.

Pleased, but surprised”

Craig Mair, historian and author

The coal mines have gone. The temperance movement is all but forgotten. After the Prestoungrange Gothenburg was forced to close due to rising costs and competition, only three Goths are left in Scotland. They are The Gothenburg in Fallin, The Goth in Armadale, and Dean Tavern in Newtongrange.

Goths have been supporting some of the same sports clubs and bands for decades, though newer organisations also beneﬁt. The Prestoungrange Gothenburg forged strong links with the Prestonpans art community in the 21st century, funding multiple murals, art exhibitions, and an annual art festival. Meanwhile, the Dean Tavern supported community radio, and the Armadale Goth started hosting the Spiritualist Church and helping the food bank. And Goths have always supported children’s causes. A retired history teacher, Mair taught the Fallin kids. “The Goth was part of their lives,” he says. “It paid for the gala day. It paid for all kinds of things that the kids enjoyed, the youth club and so on.”

Gala days are a big celebration in mining towns. A gala queen is crowned, houses decorated, and the whole community gets together to watch the procession. In the warren-like basement of the Armadale Goth, I saw the ‘Gothwarts Express’, a cardboard train created for the gala day ﬂoat. According to Fiona, the pub acts as a hub where families can

The rest have disappeared or converted to regular commercial pubs, though some still retain their old name, like the Rosyth Gothenburg Hotel and the Red Goth in Lochore.

The past few years of lockdowns and the cost of living crisis have brought difﬁculties for all pubs, making it particularly tough for Goths to fund community projects on top of their own running costs. Dean Tavern’s gas and electricity bill rose from £35,838 in 2022 to a sta ering £81,444 in 2023. Although the Armadale Goth still supports the food bank and regularly hosts fundraisers for good causes, it’s mainly trying to save enough money to ﬁx the roof.

“If they’re still going when I snuff it,” says Mair, “I’ll be surprised. Pleased, but surprised.” Fiona Holborn is more optimistic. She points out that the Armadale Goth’s takings are on the rise post-COVID, and that the pub’s 1,200 members understand its value to the community.

The persistence of these ﬁnal vestiges of the Gothenburg system may, in part, be due to them moving with the times to meet their communities’ evolving needs. But perhaps it’s also a case of communities that

haven’t entirely moved with the times. Fallin, Armadale and Newtongrange are all ex-mining towns with tight-knit communities. Miners’ lives literally depended on each other – after mining disasters, they’d form rescue parties for trapped workmates and neighbours would rally round to support families whose wage-earner had been killed or disabled.

Although the pits closed decades ago, these towns preserved their community spirit and local pride despite the commercialisation, globalisation and a regation of capitalism. Gala days are still an important event that brings the whole community together in Fallin, Armadale and Newtongrange.

“I think the model is sustainable,” concludes Mark Mulhern. He points out

that cooperative societies, which also used proﬁts for communal good, were particularly popular in Goth towns. The success of Scotmid – with its 250,000 members and annual £300,000 investment in local causes – proves the continued appetite for cooperatives.

“There’s something in these communities that supports that way of being,” he says. “People realise that by using the Co-op, and by using the Goth, they are supporting their own place.” And at less than £4 a pint, Gothenburg pubs still represent a very affordable way to support your local community.

Ali Leetham is a writer based in Edinburgh. She also gathers oral histories for the Regional Ethnology of Scotland Project and Lavender Menace

Miners Cottages in Newtongrange

NOUGHT YOUR USUAL

Great beer, vocal support for their queer community, local activism and, every so often, a large group of cats – as Rachel Ashenden explains, Leith pub Dreadnought has it all

Few pubs embody community spirit quite like my LGBTQ+ local, Dreadnought. On the edge of Leith – and, importantly, within stumbling distance of Alby’s legendary focaccia sandwiches – Dreadnought is about as loud about gay pride as it is on a Friday night with its music bingo. It’s a place where mullets, boardgames and inquisitive do os abound, sure to warm up your queer and ally friends and family alike.

Dreadnought’s owners, Róisín Thérèse and Toby Saltonstall, are hellbent on serving their punters the very best of craft beer and real ale in a Brexit misshapen landscape where prices have surged. Their philosophy is: “If you’re spending £5-6 on a pint, at least make it a good pint.” Local breweries, such as Pilot and Campervan, often frequent their specials board, while wacky brews such as Tzatziki Sours and Star Wars-themed guest beers have been known to be on tap. But Dreadnought’s extensive beer selection (which can be paired with a takeaway delivery) is not its only draw.

In 2021, as if living inside a tragi-comedy, this beloved pub was graffitied with a misspelled attempt at a slur: ‘Gayz Onley’. As if that isn’t a draw? Just as queer people have reclaimed and repurposed homophobic language throughout history, Dreadnought adopted the name “Gayz Onley” in celebration of Pride month. After successfully seeking permission from the Edinburgh Council, they further marked their territory with pride by painting the nearby bridge with the colours of the rainbow flag, now known as the Pride Bridge. Any chance of a bit of sunshine and Leithers flock to this LGBTQ+ landmark for Dreadnought’s premium beer offering.

That same year, Edinburgh Council declared the Pride Bridge structurally unsafe and barricaded the

pathway that connects Lindsay Road to North Fort Street. When the Council deemed it more cost-effective to demolish the pathway than to repair it, Dreadnought stepped in, with Róisín spearheading an ongoing campaign to save it in the name of accessibility, community, and pride. The pressure Dreadnought put on the Council worked. While ugly (yet necessary) scaffolding currently blocks convenient access to beer, grand plans for its restoration awaits. Following extensive public consultation, including with LGBT Youth Scotland, the Pride Bridge will be transformed into a rainbow-coloured amphitheatre structure, further connecting the Hawthornvale Path to Lindsay Road. Deservedly, Dreadnought won an 2024 PubAid Community Pub Hero Award for all this community activism.

Beyond saving local infrastructure, Dreadnought has innovated ‘Catz Onley’. On or around Valentine’s Day, Dreadnought bans those inquisitive do os, instead opening up the establishment to felines. Dressed up in their finery, the confident cats explore the bar, often causing chaos in their stride. This year, the pub was graced with 17 cats (although don’t hold me to that number because sensory overload), including a mountain-climbing influencer cat who goes by @jasper_ the_chocolate_ragdoll (he/him) and probably has more followers than you.

All the joy that abounds inside Dreadnought eclipses the vandals’ attempt at a homophobic slur.

I’m convinced that the pub’s community activism makes the beer taste better too.

Dreadnought, 72 North Fort St, Edinburgh; dreadnoughtpub.com

Rachel Ashenden is The Skinny’s art editor, and a freelance arts writer, curator and researcher

NO CAN DO

Scotland has long been a holdout against the carbonated dominance of Coca-Cola, and a new wave of boycotts and actions have brought our relationship with the brand to centre stage.

Myrtle Boot ﬁnds out more

Scotland and the Coca-Cola company have a fraught relation ship. Irn-Bru, Scotland’s ﬂuores cent-orange source of national pride, has pipped Coke as the country’s highest-selling soft drink ever since the American rival ﬁrst crossed the Atlantic – remaining one of the few countries to resist the beverage giant’s global dominion. Donald Trump infamously banned Irn-Bru at his Turnberry Golf Resort, leading to an outpouring of support for Scotland’s beverage underdog against America’s own orange icon.

But in December 2024, the tenuous relationship between Scottish consum ers and Coca-Cola’s portfolio of brands (including Fanta, Schweppes and Costa Coffee) took a signiﬁcant turn. CocaCola was added to the priority boycott list of the Palestinian-led BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) movement, due to the multinational corporation’s operation of a regional distribution centre in the Atarot Settlement Industrial Zone in East Jerusalem. The settlement was established in breach of international law, according to the United Nations Security Council, on land belonging to the Palestinian people. Momentum behind this boycott has been steadily growing since the announcement from BDS.

and certain products, including Coca-Cola, from the cinema’s bar.

Amongst the Scots involved in the boycott are members of Unite Union working at the Glasgow Film Festival. The charity-run cinema became the subject of national press attention during the 12-day Glasgow Film Festival in early March. A spokesperson for the GFT’s Union explained the events which led to the boycott: “[The decision] was a combination of Coca-Cola being added to [the] BDS boycott list and us being approached by Art Workers For Palestine Scotland to sign their open letter to the GFT.” The letter called on the GFT to commit to BDS compliance

Sales of Coca-Cola at the GFT may be a drop in the ocean for the drinks behemoth (whose products are consumed over 2.2 billion times each day), yet the ensuing attention has placed Coca-Cola’s ethics under greater scrutiny. “This is one of the most meaningful and tangible steps workers (and employers) can take in solidarity with the Palestinian stru le against the ongoing Israeli genocide,” says the representative for the GFT’s union. “The hope is that it will have a knock-on effect in which workers will push their employers to boycott the likes of Coca-Cola and become BDS compliant.”

Restaurants, coffee shops and grocery stores across Scotland are following suit – removing the distinctive red cans in favour of colas emblazoned with the red, white and green of the Palestinian ﬂag. Instagram user @scotlandforpalestine has created a Google map to pinpoint venues stocking alternatives to Coca-Cola, using the hashtag #ApartheidFreeCola. Venues such as Frankie Coffee in Glasgow, Ground Floor in Edinburgh, and Marmalade Deli in Lochgilphead have subbed their Coca-Cola stock for Palestinianowned brands.

For Gull’s Grocery in Edinburgh, the decision to boycott all goods connected with Israel’s unlawful occupation was obvious. “As a Trans-owned and Queer-run business, we stand with any peoples facing oppression, so standing with Palestine was a natural choice for us,” the grocer’s staff told us. The shop supplies Palestinianowned products, including Gaza Cola UK, a London-based cola brand whose proﬁts are redirected to the reconstruction of the al Karama hospital. The decision has proved popular: “Our customers are very supportive… We’ve been stru ling to keep up with demand so far!” The design of the Palestinian-owned drinks brand is modelled on the globally recognisable

Coca-Cola packaging – with the addition of Arabic calligraphy and the interlocking pattern of the Kefﬁyeh, a symbol of Palestinian identity and resistance. The eye-catching drinks inevitably lead to curiosity from customers. “It’s been a great conversation starter,” they say, “[and a way] to keep Palestine in our everyday discussions.” As the death toll of Palestinians killed by the Israeli military campaign rises to over 50,000, such conversations are all the more necessary.

“It’s not about being performative. It’s about actually getting the practical system in place so people can easily buy alternatives”

Suz O’Neill, Cafe Buena Vida

Part-cafe, part-radio station, Cafe Buena Vida in Glasgow’s Southside echoes this commitment to ethical suppliers. “We’re scrapping [products on the BDS list] in favour of more deserving brands where the proﬁts are being used for good causes,” says David Fleming, who co-founded Cafe Buena Vida with partner, Suz O’Neill. Cafe Buena Vida consistently supports smaller producers, most recently by stocking Palestine Cola. Branded as the ‘Cola with a Conscience’, all proﬁts of the soft drink are redirected to the Safad Foundation, whose work to improve education and healthcare within Palestinian communities struck a chord. “We began seeing cola alternatives online with Gaza [and] Palestine [in their] name”, says Fleming. “We did a bit of exploring and we were delighted to see a UK-based

Nestled within Seaton House in St Andrews, three very diﬀerent dining spaces celebrate Scotland’s coast and countryside, with a focus on seasonality and the ﬁnest locally sourced ingredients.

We welcome you to share in our passion for ﬂavour.

company called Yaffa who stock all manner of Palestinian goods.”

For O’Neill, the logistics behind stocking Palestinian products still has some way to go. “People have sent us [messages] to say, ‘Where have you got

[Palestine Cola]? We’d like to start stocking it as well,’” she says. “If one business finds a logistical way [to stock Palestinian products], then it facilitates other businesses being able to do the same thing… It’s not about being performative. It’s about actually getting the practical system in place so people can easily buy alternatives.” The infrastructure to support the boycott is taking shape with the hard work of globally-minded, locally-based businesses, such as Cafe Buena Vida. So, can the Coca-Cola boycott work? The drinks manufacturer isn’t entirely immune to pressure from vocal customers. Two weeks after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Coca-Cola ceased operations in Russia, largely in response to calls to boycott the company. This isn’t the first time Scotland has spoken up on behalf of peoples facing oppression either. As Fleming puts it: “There are many examples over history of the Scots being activists, fighting for what’s right and standing up for the underdogs… [It’s about] rejecting the notion that things can’t be changed.” Through grassroots activism, decisive steps and unwavering solidarity with the Palestinian people, the yoke of mega corporations like Coca-Cola might just be lifted.

Cafe Buena Vida, 535 Victoria Rd, Glasgow

The Gull’s Grocery, 124a Ferry Rd, Edinburgh

Myrtle is a writer, artist and DJ based in Edinburgh, whose previous work touches on public art, Scottish nightlife and youth culture. With six years of hospitality experience under her belt, she’s interested in the politics and culture of food and drink.

IN YOUR CORNER

Death, taxes, and the bright lights of the 24-hour shop: some things are always there. Kaitlin Willoughby celebrates the wonder of the corner shop

My local SPAR is open. When all the major supermarkets are closed, it’s open. In fact, it doesn’t feel like an exa eration to say that if the West End of Glasgow were to be completely obliterated, there would still be a little corner shop open amidst the ashes.

The SPAR on Great Western Road has been around since the 80s, but its current owner took over on Boxing Day 1999. The shop has expanded from one unit to four, buying out its neighbours. In the earlier days, there was much more corner shop competition, but as local branches of supermarkets like Tesco began popping up, main competitors Goodies closed down, whilst Pricecutter became a Pizza Hut.

When I pop in one afternoon, I ask the owner what a ‘corner shop’ means to him, and he answers: “A corner shop is like a newsagent, a wee grocery shop. They don’t sell everything, but for them to survive now they need to be a one-stop shop. If customers can’t buy everything, they go to bi er shops.” I relate this to my own experience using the SPAR, where I’ve found that, in fact, they do sell almost everything. Every time I go in, there seems to be something new, and it’s true that the convenience of being able to buy what I need a few minutes from home stops me from going further aﬁeld.

On setting up his own shop, he explains that it was something he was born into. “I was involved in my family business; they also ran newsagents,” he says. “It’s sort of a part of Asian culture; the dad sets up the business and eventually his son takes over. But I wanted to venture out on my own, so I bought this shop.” Coming to the UK from Pakistan, he describes his parents’ insatiable work ethic, coupling cultural differences with being ﬁrst-generation immigrants. His dad would work long hours, without employing staff, but he has a different attitude to running his own shop. If he

wants to take a day off he will, and he’s happy to employ staff to help with the day-to-day running of the shop, allowing him to take a step back from the counter.

Sales doubled last year, but it hasn’t always been easy. “You need luck to survive,” the owner tells me. “Tescos are opening up all around me, there’s new ones opening all the time. It means I have to up my game as well.” The clientele is brilliant, “students from all different parts of the world, and lovely locals.” Having worked in different areas of the city, in some of which he experienced racial abuse, the West End is his favourite. He laughs while recalling how one customer, from the East End, came in to buy cigarettes and was gobsmacked at the price difference. “This is the West End mate,” he explained, and the man replied: “Fucking know that, but it’s not Beverly Hills.”

As for the best part of the job, he says it’s being behind the counter, serving and bantering with customers. He doesn’t like paperwork. He describes the many students who come in “with hangovers, for coffee,” whom he often gives free food if they are short of change. They appreciate the favour, he says, and they come back. “I’ve had students come back even after graduation, when they’re working a big job, because they have memories of coming here as a student.”

Highlighting the genuine warmth and human connection our local corner shops offer us in a world with a growing number of conglomerates, he tells the tale of a group of students who came in on Halloween dressed as Where’s Wally. One girl asked to serve behind the till, and he let her – “sure, Tesco and Sainsbury's won’t let you do that!”

SPAR, 629 Great Western Rd, Glasgow; open 24 hours

Kaitlin Willoughby is Proﬁle Editor at the Glasgow Guardian and currently studying International Relations at the University of Glasgow

MARKET MAKING

Going to the shops often means getting in a ﬁght with a belligerent self-service till, but it wasn’t always this way; Grant Reekie visits Partick to look at what we can learn from the pre-super market

On the second Saturday of the month, alongside Dumbarton Road in Partick, trestle tables and stripy canvas tents appear. The air smells of charcoal and singed meat. It’s market weekend.

I buy ho et and beef, venison, some vegetables. An ebullient Frenchman offers samples of jarred pâté on baguette. The market is busy, full of people. People, and the things they make; other people looking for the things they need. People though, all coming together on a grey Saturday beside a fairly major thoroughfare.

Across the road, there is a Tesco Metro. It’s a Tesco, but it could be any of the big four supermarkets. Almost all the tills have gone now; in their place, silent, implacable, self-service checkouts. An attendant waves away ID checks and unexplained items.

My granny called her shopping “getting the messages.” I don’t know the exact etymology of that Scots phrasing, but it speaks to communication. She would have gone to more than one shop: a ﬁshmonger, a butcher, a greengrocer. She would have spoken to the shopkeepers, and they would have spoken to her. Messages, dialogue, back and forth. Interactions. The basis of community. Now, what interactions do we receive from the supermarket? What message does the aisle-end display featuring 30 varieties of microwaveable rice send?

In The Market

UK food culture is “weird” with an unusual focus on supermarkets, according to Henry Dimbleby, the man who led the National Food Strategy, a report detailing the issues in UK food culture and coming up with a plan to ﬁx them. ‘Leave it to Tesco’ is recognised as the UK government’s approach to food security by Timothy Lang, an emeritus professor of food policy at the University of London.

Supermarkets have a business model where they guarantee prices on

staples like milk or lettuce, and compete with each other to cut these to the lowest possible level. This does not reﬂect the reality of producing crops in a changing environment, so either they, or the farmers, lose money. Usually, it’s the farmers. In recent years, the cracks in this system have shown as food shortages have occurred more frequently.

AREN’TSUPERMARKETS MARKETS. THERE IS ONLY ONE STALL.

Just along Dumbarton Road from Partick Farmers Market sits a business school; the Adam Smith Building. Smith enrolled at Glasgow in 1737, and eventually became rector in 1787. He published The Wealth of Nations in 1776, almost 250 years ago.

According to some, the Kirkcaldy man basically invented our modern interpretation of capitalism and economics. Neoliberal thinktanks quote him in defense of pursuing free markets above all. In reality, Smith was railing against mercantilism, a form of proto-capitalist ideology based in maximising exports and minimising imports. Imposing tariffs. Putting the imperial economy ﬁrst and bullying other countries into compliance. Perhaps that sounds familiar?

There was more nuance in his approach than just minimising government intervention. Cecilia Rouse, Professor in Economics at Princeton University, spoke at the opening of the Adam Smith building. She said: “Smith is well known for his

“Markets – not super ones, but real ones – have soul, because they represent communities, producer to consumer”

belief in the virtues of the free market, but it is also his articulation of the necessity of the public sector – from roads to national security, to a legal structure, to beneﬁts like childcare that enable full participation in our economy – that help make his vision so valuable to a new generation.”

Smith believed in the virtues of the free market. However, in his day, there were much bi er, less abstract markets around, which represented what he described as the division of labour. In Glasgow, there was one in the east for meat, one in Candleri s for fruit. The cheese market on Walls Street. The one by the river, the Bri ait, for ﬁsh. Now, these exist only as artists’ studios and event spaces.

Smith’s vision of the free market probably looked something like the Partick Farmers Market. Individual traders, acting in their own self interest, but making use of a public square. Driving there on roads funded by the state to facilitate communal acts of capitalism. Commerce, and community.

Trading Places

News in the last year has indicated the last bastions of Britain’s great markets, Billingsgate and Smithﬁeld in London, will close or perhaps move. These vast markets will evolve, or die. Along with them will go their traditions, their place in the city’s fabric. They are not really tenable in our modern economy, occupying valuable land in central London.

Glasgow perhaps offers some insight into the unintended consequences of such a decision. We lost our versions of those historic markets long ago. The working class iterations of our food markets have largely disappeared, moved out to Blochairn,

to the wholesale market. As they moved from the centre, their role changed, not least their place in the community. The fruit and ﬁsh market would once have been busy, frequented by regular people. Now, food shopping at a market seems performative, perhaps even aspirational. Does any of this matter? Is it misty-eyed nostalgia to long for an inconvenient past? Or an inconvenient truth that we lost our way a long time ago?

Markets – not super ones, but real ones – have soul, because they represent communities, producer to consumer. They represent the best of that most imperfect economic systems, capitalism. Their scarcity and inaccessibility to most of the population in modern Scotland is a reﬂection of how far wrong modern capitalism has gone.

So is a bi-monthly visit to the farmers market a bougie pretension? Perhaps. However, it’s also a last gasp of something older, better. The market at Partick is growing. It’s a safe bet for traders to come every couple of weeks, to make some money, but more importantly, to meet their regulars and build a community around their enterprise. Is anyone getting rich? Maybe not. But they are trading, and producing something of value, both on the farm, and in the city.

It might not be much. But you know what they say, every little helps.

Partick Farmers Market, Mansﬁeld Park off Hyndland St, Glasgow, second and fourth Saturday of the month

Grant Reekie is a chef, lecturer, and writer based in Glasgow. You can ﬁnd him cooking at @thatsyerdinner on instagram.

COMMON GROUND

Leith Community Croft is a small patch of green space, but it’s also so much more. Lauren looks at how the Croft – and the people growing on it – are rethinking food, community and

Tucked away in a quiet corner of Leith Links, just a few paces from the city’s hum, lies a space that feels like it slipped through the cracks of urban planning – and decided to root itself anyway. On this peaceful patch of green, the buzz of trafﬁc gives way to birdsong, the rustle of leaves, and the low murmur of people working the earth.

This is the Leith Community Croft, and while it may look like a garden, it’s far more than that. Once dismissed as derelict Common Good land, the site has blossomed into a vibrant, living model for how urban life might be done differently. Yes, it’s a space to grow food, but also to grow community, resilience, knowledge, and a sense of belonging that cities often forget to make room for.

Run by grassroots social enterprise Earth in Common, the Croft is part food-growing space, part outdoor classroom, part sanctuary. In a time

when loneliness, rising costs, and climate anxiety shape daily life, this community-run croft offers something quietly radical: a chance to reconnect – with the land, with others, and with ourselves.

Urban crofting

So, what exactly is a croft?

Traditionally, a ‘croft’ refers to a small-scale farm, often in the Highlands, rooted in community land use. Think shared pasture, local produce, and a deep respect for the land. Earth in Common has taken that idea and ﬂipped it to ﬁt modern city life. The result? A collectively managed green space, where growing is about people as much as plants.

“We started coming here in 2020 – basically when lockdown happened,” recalls Tom Everett, a grower at the Croft who lives nearby. “We live in a small ﬂat, no garden, and it became a sort of haven.”

During the long months of lockdown, the Croft became a sanctuary for many. For Everett, his partner Allison, and their two young daughters, it quickly transformed from a nearby green space into something much more. Allison describes how the space became a sort of “ forest school” for them. “They know all the plants now. They know what they can eat. They were climbing trees, making bows and arrows... it became their world.”

The pandemic exposed many cracks in urban living; social isolation, a disconnection from nature, an appetite for connection and community. The Croft is not just a garden, it’s an answer to the question: What kind of city do we want to grow?

Food as a common thread

Food is often where community begins. It’s how we nurture each other, pass on culture, and mark celebrations. At the Croft, food-growing is

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both practical and poetic: a way to localise food systems, reduce environmental impact, and build self-sufﬁciency, but also a way to bring people around a shared table and create a community.

Unlike traditional allotments, the Croft isn’t divided into individual plots behind locked gates. Instead, it’s built around dùthchas – a Scottish Gaelic concept that we belong to the land, not the other way around. Plots are cared for by groups: families, friends, new neighbours. By re-establishing this sense of belonging amongst city dwellers, they hope to connect people to the land and nature – all while nurturing Gaelic heritage and indigenous langauge.

Tom Watson, who’s been part of the Croft for over a decade, knows this well. “I’m self-employed, so I do it other places too now,” he says of his gardening work. “But when I’m doing it here, it doesn’t feel like work ‘cause it’s such a nice environment.”

For Watson, it’s not just the space – it’s the people. “I work for another charity that sets up community gardens, and we get kids who are having trouble attending school to come and help us out. And they tend to be small [gardens], like back green sizes. But again, it’s just great people. People need a little bit of land to dig and just do their own thing on.”

From soil to soul

The Croft cultivates a ﬂuid, seasonal community, shaped by need, weather, and time. It hosts workshops, dinner parties, even birthdays. “It’s a mutable space,” says Everett. “It’s

our garden space.” That mutability is key. The Croft shifts with the people who use it; a classroom one day, a quiet retreat the next. This is dùthchas in action: not rigid tradition, but a living, breathing relationship with land and people.

‘In a city that can often feel anonymous, even isolating, growing together gives people a sense of belonging’

The benefits are tangible. Studies show that just two hours a week in green space can significantly improve mental and physical health; lowering stress, improving mood, and reducing loneliness. At the Leith Community Croft, these benefits come naturally. But perhaps most powerfully, it’s the feeling of being part of something. In a city that can often feel anonymous, even isolating, growing together gives people a sense of belonging, not just

to the land, but to each other. In a world where it’s easy to feel disconnected – even in a city full of people – it offers people a sense of belonging, not just to the land, but to each other.

Anna Cradden, another regular at the Croft, reﬂects on her childhood in Edinburgh and summers spent visiting her grandmother’s small village in Germany. She remembers a time when food was truly homegrown, when her grandmother grew almost everything she ate, feeding the extended family from the same patch of soil. Returning recently, she noticed the allotments there sat empty. “It made me a bit sad, actually.”

Keep di ing

That sense of disconnection – from land, food, community – is something many feel, even if they don’t have the words for it. It’s a kind of rootlessness that runs deep, especially in a city constantly in ﬂux. At the Croft, the antidote is simple: show up. Dig a little. Plant something. No pressure, no prerequisites.

“You can just come and do something without having to be responsible for it,” Cradden says. “Even if you don’t come back for a year, it’s ﬁne. You’ve done your bit. And that’s nice.” But beneath the warmth and informality lies something deeply political. The Croft is a form of resistance: to isolation, to industrialised food systems, to cultural amnesia. In Leith, a historically working-class, proudly diverse part of Edinburgh, access to land is access to power.

personal. Reconnecting with the land is a way of understanding who we are and how we belong. “ I think there’s something really important about growing things that helps you to understand the place you’re in. To feel like you know the place you’re in and you’re a part of the territory that you’re on. You’re part of the ecosystem there.

“Being connected to the actual land that you walk on and working it and growing things gives you a feeling of security… Whoever’s here needs to be connecting with the land and taking care of it.” Watson echoes this sentiment: “People need a little bit of land to dig and just do their own thing. That’s the big difference.”

That’s exactly what’s happening at Leith Community Croft, and Earth in Common is not stopping there. Despite funding gaps, vandalism, and the usual challenges of grassroots work, Earth in Common has ﬂourished. Their work has attracted national attention, including partnerships with major initiatives like the Wellcome Trust’s research on Scotland’s Good Food Nation Act and the National Lottery-backed Nature Neighbourhoods Project.

The Croft is only the ﬁrst of what they hope will become a network of urban crofts across Scotland, empowering communities to take over neglected urban spaces and bring them to life. More than just a garden, the Leith Community Croft is a glimpse into a better future; one that’s greener, fairer, and rooted in community. And it’s growing.

Leith Community Croft, 4a John’s Pl,

earth-in-common.org/ leith-community-croft

Lauren Cameron (she/her) is a Highlands-born, Edinburgh-based journalist and podcaster who writes about people, place, and everything in between.

PORTO & FI

A family-run café-bistro on the Edinburgh waterfront with stunning views over the Firth of Forth, Porto & Fi’s atmosphere is bright, friendly and relaxed. Enjoy a freshly ground Carraro Italian coffee with a freshly baked scone, or dine with friends and family from their breakfast or main bistro menus. They are also fully licensed and have a specially selected list of spirits, beers and wines to complement their seasonal menu, including their very own gin!

Just around the corner from the most Instagrammable street in Edinburgh (Circus Lane), Patisserie Florentin is more than just a café – it’s a slice of Parisian elegance with a warm, local touch. Known for its delicate, hand-crafted pastries, sweet treats and aromatic coffee, Florentin brings a taste of Europe to your daily routine. Every croissant is baked fresh each morning, every tart glazed to perfection, and every cup of coffee brewed with care. Don’t miss their signature croque monsieur with ham – or a Scottish twist with ha is.

A WEE TASTE

A Wee Taste is a wine and grazing board bar in Edinburgh wholly specialising in cheese, charcuterie and vegan platters as well as scrumptious sides and hot tapas dishes. Come in and enjoy a wee glass of vino in their cute and cosy space. They also run monthly events and offer private hire for special gatherings. For more info head to aweetaste.co.uk.

AFTERNOON TEA AT THE DEPARTMENT OF MAGIC

With more than 2,000 ﬁve-star reviews, the Department of Magic is one of the top-rated attractions in Edinburgh. Their Magical Afternoon Teas feature tempting, locally-sourced treats, a wide selection of enchanting teas and a few magical surprises. All served in an immersive themed tavern located in the city centre. A perfectly indulgent experience for any aspiring witch or wizard.

PATISSERIE FLORENTIN

Image: courtesy of Patisserie Florentin

Patisserie Florentin

Image: courtesy of The Department of Magic

Afternoon Tea at the Department of Magic

Image: courtesy of Porto & Fi

Porto & Fi Image: courtesy ofA Wee Taste

A Wee Taste

↘ PROFILES

46 The Old Toll, and why sometimes ‘your local’ isn’t anywhere near your house, by Jamie Dunn

50 The Athletic Arms aka The Di ers is a great pub, but it’s the people that really make it, by Tallah Brash

54 Reﬂections on the communities built around Edinburgh pubs K Jackson’s and The City Cafe, by Rosamund West

62 Dundee is always changing, but the Agacan remains the same, by Laurie Presswood

65 The Himalaya Cafe’s pocket of Tibetan food and culture, by Ema Smekalova

68 Hungry Wolf, and the joys of a great restaurant seconds from your front door, by Emilie Roberts

74 Ground Floor and the radical potential of the third space, by Anahit Behrooz

↪ The Old Toll Bar, 1 Paisley Road West, Glasgow

↪ Mon-Tue 3pm-11pm, Wed-Thu & Sun 12pm-11pm, Fri-Sat 12pm-12am ↪@theoldtollbarglasgow

THE OLD TOLL BAR

Your local doesn’t have to be local, as Jamie Dunn – frequent traveller to The Old Toll Bar – ﬁnds out

What makes a pub ‘your local’? The obvious answer is to do with proximity, surely? It’s that place around the corner where everyone knows your name. In an ideal world, that would be true, but the pub that you love spending time in the most rarely correlates with your postcode.

I’ve lived proximus to many a boozer in my lifetime, and often I wouldn’t spit on them if they were on ﬁre, despite them being spitting-distance away.

More crucial in my mind is familiarity; it’s the place you’re drawn to again and again, the place that feels like home, even if it’s nowhere near your actual abode.

I’m lucky enough to have a handful of ﬁne pubs less

than ﬁve minutes from home (Phillies, Henry’s and Eala Bhan are all as close to my heart as they are to my front door) and plenty more within a mile radius (The Bell Jar, Allison Arms, Ryan’s Bar, The Rose Reilly), but for some reason the pub I choose to spend most of my time in is around 50 minutes away by foot in a part of town I would rarely frequent otherwise. I make this pilgrimage as there’s no other third space in Glasgow in which I’d rather while away a couple of hours: The Old Toll Bar on Paisley Road West.

Conspicuous among the Rangers bars that dot that thoroughfare, The Old Toll Bar is the platonic ideal of a pub.

It’s a proper old man boozer, with an interior of deep mahogany that’s lit by colourful light streaming through stained glass windows by day and candlelight by night. But while its aesthetic is set in aspic, its ideas of what makes a pub feel welcoming are not. Its vibes are immaculate, its schedule of gigs and DJ spots eclectic, and its clientele a cheerful mix of locals, people who work nearby, and, I suspect, plenty of punters like me who’ve trekked here from far-away neighbourhoods. If the latter group look smug, it’s not because they’ve just got their steps in, it’s because they know they’re in the best pub in the city.

Image: courtesy of Jamie Dunn

The Old Toll

Scotland quite literally has too many pubs to mention (if you want a full list, just Google ‘all pubs scotland 2025’), but here are 30-orso to get you started, each with their own story to tell

Words: Peter Simpson

The Allison Arms

720 Pollokshaws Rd, Glasgow

One of the Southside’s favourite pubs, partly because it has a bit of everything. Want a solid pint? Got it. Want something fancier or harder to ﬁnd? Sorted. Want to bump into someone from down the road? Friend, you shall!

The Athletic Arms

1-3 Angle Park Terrace, Edinburgh

The lights are 15% too bright. That’s genuinely the only bad thing we can say about the Di ers – great cask ales, an enormous whisky selection, great pies, loads of seats, two separate bookable back rooms, and more dark wood than you can shake a stick at.

The Banshee Labyrinth

29-35 Niddry St, Edinburgh

All the pubs on this list are unique, but are any of them as unique as the Banshee Labyrinth? A rabbit warren of heavy metal, live music and leftﬁeld bar snacks, right in the middle of Edinburgh’s Historic Old Town™.

Blackfriars of Bell St

36 Bell St, Glasgow

The Blackfriars basement is a key node in Glasgow’s comedy

scene, hosting shows all year round, while upstairs Blackfriars is an ideal spot to grab a pizza and shoot the shit.

The Criterion

99 South St, St Andrews

It’s got outdoor seating and the inside’s lovely, the pies are massive and delicious, the pints are great and it’s one of the few places in St Andrew’s that doesn’t seem to be permanently overrun with yahs and/or rahs.

The Cumberland Bar

1-3 Cumberland St, Edinburgh

Inside, this New Town stalwart is full of reading nooks, anterooms and places to read your book or have a chat. Outside, it’s a bumper, multi-level streetside beer garden under an absolutely enormous tree.

The Dean Tavern

80 Main St, Newtongrange, Dalkeith

One of Scotland’s few remaining Gothenburg pubs, the Dean is a pillar of the local community, donating its proﬁts to local causes. It does all that while also pouring an excellent pint and looking from the outside like a cross between a Tudor mansion and a Norwegian stave church.

Dreadnought

72 North Fort St, Edinburgh

A good pub is a meeting point for the community, and a great pub goes out of its way to make things better. The Dreadnought – with its work on preserving the Pride Bridge and vocal support for Leith’s queer community – falls ﬁrmly in the latter camp.

Photo: Ines Chapleo

Dreadnought

Epochal Tap

3A Payne St, Glasgow

One for the beer bois – the Epochal Brewery’s taproom by the canal offers the chance to see some extremely rare bits of brewing kit, and then try some extremely funky barrel-fermented beers.

Glenuig Community Inn

Glenuig, Lochailort, Highlands

“The core structure of the Glenuig Inn dates from before 1746, when troops in pursuit of Bonnie Prince Charlie burned the roof.” Now that is an origin story. These days, it’s a delightful traditional pub, owned and operated by the local community.

The Hug and Pint

171 Great Western Rd, Glasgow

Celebrating its tenth birthday this year, the Hug and Pint’s basement is one of Glasgow’s very best small gig venues. The bar upstairs is a vibey, vibrant meeting place with great food and great tunes.

Inn Deep

445 Great Western Rd, Glasgow

Inn Deep is a great pub in a very cool location (oh look, it’s the river!), but we’ll give it a shoutout here for its weekly poetry, spoken word and performance night. Spaces to perform, share and enjoy art are harder to find than ever, but Inn Deep are fighting the good fight.

King’s Arms

40 Main St, Ballantrae, Girvan

The King’s Arms has been around since the 1700s, but when it looked like its time might be up, the local community stepped in and took it over. Owned and run by the community since 2023, it now operates as a hub and meeting point for the area, with regular events and a local historical archive on site.

Kinneuchar Inn

9-11 Main St, Kilconquhar, near Leven

This 17th century pub in the Fife village of Kilconquhar pulls double duty as a genuine foodie destination. Great local ingredients, inventive menus, and to top it all off, fried chicken sandwiches every bank holiday Monday.

Koelschip Yard

686-688 Pollokshaws Rd, Glasgow

You there! Do you like beer, but in a way that some of your friends just don’t understand? Get down to Koelschip Yard – the Southside staple has a huge range of craft beers from around Europe with your name on them.

The Laurieston

58 Bridge St, Glasgow

The Laurieston is one of the most iconic places in all of Glasgow, full stop, end of paragraph. It’s an incredible pub, but the history of the place is what screams out at

you, from the decor and the loyal regulars to the photo albums packed with moments from big nights out over the decades.

Leith Depot

138-142 Leith Walk, Edinburgh

The Depot’s place in our hearts was sealed by their defeat of property developers aiming to knock down their home. A top bunch of lads. It doesn’t hurt that, alongside their live programme, the bar is really well-stocked and the kitchen turns out great riffs on pub food classics.

Lochranza Country Inn

Lochranza, Isle of Arran Owned and operated by the North Arran Community Beneﬁt Society, the Lochranza Country Inn is ideally placed to put some of your city slicker cash back into the local area, not least because, quote, “it is the only fully licensed premises on the coastal road between Corrie and Blackfoot”. Long island walks – they’re thirsty business.

Newbarns Taproom

13 Jane St, Edinburgh

It’s only been here for a few years, but the Newbarns Taproom already feels like part of the Leith furniture. It’s always busy, the beer is always great, and nothing says ‘beloved by the community’ like a Sunday afternoon pub quiz that’s standing room only.

The Old Forge

Inverie, Knoydart

It’s only accessible via a two-day hike or ferry ride, and

THE PUB

↪ The Athletic Arms, 1-3 Angle Park Ter, Edinburgh

Sun-Wed 11am-midnight, Thu-Sat 11am-1am

THE DIGGERS

The Athletic Arms – aka The Di ers – may be known as a Hearts pub with a great whisky selection, affordable pints and epic pies, but as Tallah Brash writes, it’s the people that truly make it

“How do you know Moira?”

This is a question posed to me on the night of Moira MacKirdy’s 40th by Rab, one of the managers at the Athletic Arms, aka The Di ers. “She works here,” I reply with a wink, “but also, she comes to my club night.” Rab looks perplexed as he pours my pint, but not at all surprised. I’m working on my future credentials as a regular, a part of the furniture, so it’s lovely to chat with Rab who loves the excitement match days bring to the pub. Moira works behind the bar one night a week (plus days that Hearts are at Tynecastle).

When people talk about Di ers, the impressive whisky selection, 35ml

measures, pies and cask ales are all touchpoints. But when I think of Di ers, I think of the community fostered there – the locals who sit in the same maroon upholstered seats every day, the excellent bar staff, Christmas day pints with pals and neighbours, and I think of Moira, her laugh, and what a presence she is in this friendly little corner of Gorgie.

When on shift, Moira is like a machine. But when on the other side of the bar, Moira is like a whirlwind – she knows everyone, everyone knows her and she wants everyone to know each other. She invited 100 people to her 40th; intended for the Snug, the pub’s cosy backroom, party favours and people

spilled into every corner of the main bar, Moira seemingly everywhere all at once. Her favourite musician SHEARS delivered a special unamplified performance – it was both incredibly chaotic yet one of the most wholesome things I think I’ve ever experienced. When I was last in, Moira ripped a hole in the crotch of her jeans and in about five minutes I’m sure the entire pub knew. Nothing phases Moira, it’s like her super power. I’ll spare you from the words she screamed at the top of her lungs during her birthday speech in these pages, but if you ever find yourself in Di ers and she’s there, ask her yourself; I’m sure she’d gleefully oblige.

Photos: courtesy of Moira MacKirdy

Moira MacKirdy

the community bought it from its previous owner after setting up their own de facto pub around the corner. If that doesn’t put a pint at the Old Forge on your to-do list, we don’t know what will.

The Old Hairdresser's

23 Renﬁeld Ln, Glasgow

A moody, cosy and extremely arty bar with a surprising amount of seats thanks to the upstairs mezzanine, the Old Hairdresser’s would already be a magnet for some of Glasgow’s coolest folk, but the perfectly-formed gig room is the cherry on top.

Paradise Palms

41 Lothian St, Edinburgh

The vibe. It sounds like a cop-out, but that’s what makes Paradise Palms so special, and what draws the regulars back week-in, week-out. The great vegan food, delicious cocktails and neon-tropical decor all have a hand in it, but there’s something about Palms that you can’t quite put your ﬁnger on. It’s exciting, it’s… fun! That’s what it is! Paradise Palms – it’s loads of fun.

Red Lion Inn

Low Causeway, Culross, Fife

History! The Red Lion sits in a building dating back to the 16th century, and much of that history is on display throughout the pub. Another historic pub now owned by its local community, the Red Lion continues its centuries-old role as a hub for the local area (and if that doesn’t convince you, they ﬁlmed some of Outlander here).

The Regent

2 Montrose Ter, Edinburgh

Donning the mantle of Edinburgh’s LGBTQ+ real ale pub, and regularly near the top of lists of the best ale pubs in the country, The Regent is a brilliant bar with great draught beer, regular art exhibitions, and a friendly and cool vibe.

Rutherford’s Micropub

38 The Square, Kelso Pubs encourage conversation; the smaller the pub, the greater the conversation. Is that how that works? Billed as Scotland’s ﬁrst micropub, Rutherford’s is a tiny oneroom spot that still manages to put out excellent real ales. And it’s got a beer garden!

The Speedwell Bar

165-167 Perth Rd, Dundee

A true mainstay of Dundee life. Yes, that is code for ‘everyone who’s ever passed through Dundee, their parents, their siblings and their dog has been for a pint in here’, but with good reason – this is a cracking Edwardian-era boozer with good beer and notably well-preserved toilets.

Starbar

1 Northumberland Pl, Edinburgh

With a mood best described as ‘dive bar crash-lands in famously salubrious part of town to great success’, Starbar is the place to go for a friendly welcome, lively locals, and what is presumably the New Town’s only table football table.

The City Cafe, 19 Blair St, Edinburgh ↪ Mon-Fri 9am-midnight, Sat-Sun 9am-1am

K. JACKSON’S AND THE CITY CAFE

Rosamund West looks back at two pubs (one sadly resting-in-piece) with central roles to play in Edinburgh’s artistic community, even if they didn’t know it at the time

My ideal of the pub was formed in my late teens and early twenties by K. Jackson’s, the long-since-demolished boozer opposite the side entrance to Edinburgh College of Art. I studied Sculpture, and Jackson’s was closer to my studio than the canteen. We were there constantly – friends celebrated Valentine’s with their £1 toasties; we waited there for our degree results, leaving a half-drunk bottle of wine behind the bar while we nipped across the street to collect our terrifying envelopes, assuring the barman we had almost certainly failed (we had not). I had the privilege of attending bartender Lesley’s 40th birthday, where she told me and my friend Rab that we

were ‘like the daughters [she] never had.’ It’s possible we were there too much.

The clientele was a heady mix of old man regulars and a revolving cast of art students and tutors. Different departments would occupy their own tables and as the night progressed, start to mingle-slash-argue. It created a space for the exchange of learnings and ideas, for clashes between disciplines and generations, and for the potentially rariﬁed art world to rub up against a local space and have its positions challenged.

Around the same time, a new magazine called The Skinny was in its early planning stages, and a lot of that planning also happened in the pub. The basement of

the City Cafe was an early host of the editorial meetings, where contributors would turn up and pitch then-editor Xavier with their ideas. In a time before easy access to self publishing with an audience (pre-Facebook et al) the opportunity for print publishing felt like one true way to express ideas, to have your voice heard. There was a particular energy to the hordes of aspiring writers, jostling for space both physical and print in this dark basement, as the editor, an Australian unsuited to the dark and cold of Scottish winters, got quietly drunk. It felt like the correct usage of the pub; a place of community, discussion, organising. It’s the vibe I’ve been searching for ever since.

Photos: Ines Chapleo

The City Cafe

The State Bar

148 Holland St, Glasgow

Sauchiehall Street a bit too wild tonight? Head for a pint at The State. Just out of the GFT and want to discuss your wild ﬁlm theories once again? Let’s go to The State. Bunch of pals in town and everybody wants a nice pint and to be able to hear one another? My friend, gather up your friends, and we can all be friends amid the dark wood and delicious cask ales of The State Bar.

The Steam Packet Inn

Harbour Row, Isle of Whithorn, Newton Stewart Wherever there are people, there’s a pub; that’s our explanation for The Steam Packet Inn. It’s a great pub with its own microbrewery and lovely views, but look where it is on the map. It’s so far south it’s basically in line with Newcastle. The magic of the pub: it’s everywhere, baby!

The Stockbridge Tap

2-6 Raeburn Pl, Edinburgh

A bit of calm amid the hubbub of the Stockbridge high street, the Tap is the place to go if you just want half an hour to yourself. Grab a book from the charity shop and a pint of something interesting; you’ve earned it.

The Street

2b Picardy Pl, Edinburgh

A long-standing pillar of Edinburgh’s LGBTQ+ bar

Photo: Ines Chapleo

The Street

YOUR NEXT WHISKY ADVENTURE STARTS WITH US

Our whisky is all about ﬂavour –handpicked and enjoyed in its purest form. Our food follows in that same spirit.

Our three Sco ish Members’ Rooms in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Leith each have their own seasonal take on quick lunches, bar snacks and three-course dinners.

Discover whisky with a taste for adventure at The Scotch Malt Whisky Society.

scene, The Street is an extremely welcoming place to grab a drink… then you notice the glass ﬂoor revealing the club room downstairs, and get drawn into a massive night out.

The Swan

Main St, Banton, nr Kilsyth

Scotland’s ﬁrst communityowned pub following a buyout by locals in 2019, The Swan’s resurgence has been credited with a revival for the North Lanarkshire village. Today the pub remains a pub, but it’s also a cafe, a meeting space, and a shop. Oh, and it’s the post ofﬁce as well.

The Tourmalet

25 Buchanan St, Edinburgh

The Tourmalet is where the cool kids hang out. This corner pub just off Leith Walk is a shabby, lively and homely place that does everything you’d want a pub to do, down to its aloof but welcoming vibe and enormous ﬁsh tank. The Ventoux performs a very similar function over in Tollcross (same great selection of German bottled beers, same ﬁsh, same allusions to French cycling).

Third Eye Bar

1 Scott St, Glasgow

The in-house bar at the CCA is a hive of artistic activity, a great spot for post-exhibition people-watching, and it has a lovely and surprisingly secluded outdoor patio. A beer garden *and* contemporary art? That’s a dream team.

THE PUB

Photo: Ingrid Mur

Third Eye Bar

THE SHOPS

↪ To The Shops

Words: Peter Simpson

→ Cheese

Obviously you can get this at The Big Shop, but cheese is one of the items where a bit more time, effort, and, yes, *cash money* can make a massive difference. Here are some of our favourite cheesemongers for when you’re looking for the good stuff; remember to get your share of free samples...

The Arran Cheese Shop

Home Farm, Isle of Arran Cheddar fans, get locked in; there are some excellent examples of the form to be found on Arran, as well as award-winning blue cheese and brie.

Galloway Farmhouse Cheese

Millairies Farm, nr Newton Stewart

No-one’s ever stood in the rows of fridges at their local mega-market and said ‘Wow, I feel so connected to nature’. Nope, sometimes you’ve got to go to the rolling hills, among the grass and the farmyard animals to get your cheese. Galloway produce organic cheese from their own herds of sheep, cows and goats.

George Mewes

106 Byres Rd, Glasgow and 3 Dean Park St, Edinburgh George Mewes do an excellent line in artisinally

produced cheeses, but they also have all the little bits you need to go alongside. We’re talking chutneys! Crackers! Little pickley things in jars!

IJ Mellis

Shops in Edinburgh, Glasgow and St Andrews Mellis is the byword for ‘fancy cheese’ round these parts, but to be fair to them, their shops are genuinely excellent. You’ll talk to someone who knows their stuff, you’ll ﬁnd cheeses from across Scotland and beyond, and you will get drawn in by the enormous Scotch e s in the window.

Isle of Mull Cheese

Sgriob-ruadh Farm, Tobermory

Sure, we could just buy some cheese, but why not make a day of it? The Sgriob-ruadh Farm on Mull has a great range of cheeses, but they also run regular tours of the farm and attached distillery. See the cows, go into the cheese cellars and try some gin while we’re at it? Sign us up.

Starter Culture

1052 Pollokshaws Rd, Glasgow

The Southside’s own cheese shop has gone from strength to strength since opening in 2018; they turn into a wine bar at the weekends, host regular tastings, and source excellent cheeses from right across the map.

Oozy

→ Cupboards

A cupboard full of spices, pulses and various other dried stuff is a key part of making food at home. When it comes time to ﬁll that cupboard up, here are some places to check out.

The Good Choice

1031 Cathcart Rd, Glasgow

A zero-waste shop with a wide range of dried goods as well as fresh bread and vegetables. Imagine the next time you need lentils, you just get *the right amount* of lentils – mind blown.

New Leaf Coop

23 Argyle Pl, Edinburgh

The long-established Marchmont co-op has all the stuff you’d look for in this kind of shop, as well as a few special treats, none more special than their two grind-on-demand nut butter machines.

Real Foods

37 Broughton St and 8 Brougham St, Edinburgh

From myriad teabags to every conceivable baking ingredient or substitute, Real Foods is one of the very best store cupboard shops you’ll ﬁnd anywhere. If you’re looking for something, anything, chances are they’ll have it.

Weigh to Go

27 Crighton Pl, Edinburgh

Weigh to Go supplement the classic reﬁll options with an impressive sideline in Mexican cupboard staples, an outlandish number of hot sauces, and freshly roasted coffees from a range of Edinburgh roasters.

→ Delis

Big fridges, tall shelving, big jars of olives and lots of cured meat and/or ﬁsh – your local delicatessen is the grown-up equivalent of a sweet shop. Sometimes they even have sweets!

The Brig Larder

1 Albert St, Kirkwall

The Brig pulls together the best food and drink from across Orkney under one roof – ﬁsh, meat, baking, cheeses and handmade fudge all feature prominently.

Celino’s

235 Dumbarton Rd, Glasgow

Beautiful chaos is how we’ll describe our last visit to Celino’s – we’re out the front looking at enormous and beautifully-packaged Italian cakes and wondering whether or not to get an ice cream, while there’s a full restaurant service going on at the other end of the building. Lovely stuff.

The Foraging Goat

65 High St, Haddington

This East Lothian deli features a host of homemade preserves, spreads and other treats, alongside a host of locally sourced treats.

Harris & Co

111 King St, Castle Douglas

An independent deli and wine shop in Dumfries and Galloway, Harris & Co have an extensive cheese and meat selection, as many kinds of fancy olives as you could reasonably expect, and a great drinks offering as well as regular tasting events.

Valvona & Crolla

19 Elm Row, Edinburgh

For more than 90 years, V&C has been bringing some of the best Italian wares to Edinburgh, from pasta and cured meats to great Italian wines. An institution – long may its reign continue.

West Coast Delicatessen

5 Argyle St, Ullapool

The West Coast Deli is a one-stop shop for great food from across the Highlands, with a focus on excellent cheeses and freshly baked breads and pastries.

AGACAN TURKISH RESTAURANT

Within the ceramic-lined walls of this one-of-a-kind Turkish restaurant, Laurie Presswood ﬁnds a capsule of Dundee’s past, present and future

Agacan is probably one of the longest-running institutions on its stretch of Perth Road, just narrowly beaten by the Post Ofﬁce and nearby Victorian graveyard. It’s been open for over 40 years and in that time, as far as I can judge, not much has changed. The external and internal walls, tables and chairs remain decorated with and seemingly structurally supported by the ceramics and paintings of owner Zeki Agacan.

The menu has made little to no concession to the rising tide of plant-based living – the takeaway menu has no vegetarian main course and what exists for sit-in guests is

just an assembly of ﬁve dishes already offered to you from the starters page. No halloumi ﬂatbreads here, just various permutations of big tasty meat (but please trust my ve ie credentials when I say that the staples of rice, pitta and kizartma are worth the trip alone).

The Agacan has been there so long that it now has its own ecosystem, starting with the staff inside and extending to the people waiting on the street outside for their takeaway. This crowd is ﬁlled with people from your past who, if you lived in any other city in the world, you would only see in two

settings: weddings and funerals. But you live in the west of Dundee, so there’s a third occasion in that category: Friday night Aga. You’ve turned up at your allotted pick-up time but they’re busy and the foyer is exactly one metre squared so you join the line and stare at the ﬂoor to avoid making eye contact with someone you think you may once have kissed in a carpeted nightclub. As time goes on and Dundee keeps changing, it’s reassuring to see that some truly great things can endure. Friendships fade, vape shops come and go; only Agacan lives on.

Image: courtesy of Agacan

Agacan

THE SHOPS

→ Drinks

A good bottle shop or a trusty off-licence can be a real difference-maker; these folk all offer great drinks and genuine expertise, and some of them also have extremely fancy nibbles on hand if you want to come across as the swankiest lad at your pal’s barbecue.

Aeble

17 Rodger St, Anstruther Scotland’s ﬁrst cider shop in the East Neuk is pared back to the essentials – a bunch of great ciders and perrys, a small but well-formed selection of beers and wines, and… yep, that’s about it.

Black Isle Brewery

Old Allangrange, Munlochy nr Inverness

Sometimes you have to go to the source – the Black Isle Brewery is one of the Highlands’ very best, so head here to pick up some of their wares as fresh as they come.

Cork and Cask

136 Marchmont Rd, Edinburgh

Cork and Cask’s range is great, but the staff are what push this place up a notch. Extremely helpful! Genuinely knowledgable! Willing to tolerate even the most contradictory and confusing requests!

Cornelius Beer and Wine

18-20 Easter Rd, Edinburgh

The last thing you want in a bottle shop is to feel hemmed in, so we love the spacious and surprisingly wide Cornelius on Easter Road. Loads of room to browse without bumping into folk, and an excellent beer selection with loads of options from Leith, Edinburgh, Scotland and beyond.

The Good Spirits Co

23 Bath St, 105 West Nile St and 21 Clarence Dr, Glasgow

These guys know their way around a drinks cabinet; each of their three stores has a different specialism of sorts, and regular tasting events give the chance to try and catch up with what’s new in the world of strong-but-tasty drinks.

Spry

Wines

1 Haddington Pl, Edinburgh

A combination wine bar and bottle shop, Spry’s airy spot at the tippy-top of Leith Walk is the ideal place to pick up a nice bottle for dinner, then get distracted by some great smells and stay for lunch.

Valhalla’s Goat

449 Great Western Rd, Glasgow

This West End mainstay is a treasure trove of beers from all over the map; your main limits will be how much you can carry and how long you can spend poring over the cans.

Photo: Siobhan Nevada

Spry Wines

HIMALAYA CAFE

Inspired by a visit from the Dalai Lama, Edinburgh’s Himalaya Cafe is a pocket of Tibetan food and community, writes Ema Smekalova

Iknow, I know; hearing the phrase ‘it’s more than just a cafe, it’s a way of life’ does tend to activate the fight or flight response. Yet when I sit in the cosy space of The Himalaya Cafe, finding my bad mood dissipating through every mouthful of fried momo dough and every sip of spiced chai, I start to think they might be onto something. Momos are traditional Nepalese dumplings, which are essentially filled balls of fried or steamed dough. The ones I order on this particular visit contain a mixture of soft cubed tofu, green onions and other veg, served alongside a bowl of homemade sweet chilli sauce. I also try the

Himalayan fried rice, which quite ﬁttingly arrived in the form of a ﬂuffy, delightfully greasy mountain. It’s delicious, generous, and most of all, comforting.

I soon discover that the invisible barriers that are typically upheld between tables at most dining establishments don’t really exist here. Whether you’re a Himalaya regular or not, you’re part of the community once you’re inside, and even for someone on the shy end of the introversionextraversion scale, that’s a nice place to be.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama (yes, the actual Dalai Lama) is kind of the reason

for The Himalaya Cafe’s existence. On a diplomatic visit to Edinburgh in the 2000s, he met the cafe’s founder, Reka Gawa, who was a caterer at the Scottish Parliament at the time, and told her to do something to promote Tibetan culture. Food is an obvious medium, so thus, Himalaya was born.

Once you’ve sipped on their famous chai, or browsed their (dining table-based) library of Buddhist reading material, or taken some time in the meditation room downstairs on your way to the toilets, you might just emerge on South Clerk Street feeling nourished in both body and soul.

Photo: Ema Smekalova

Himalaya Cafe

→ Farm Shops

Quality goods straight from the horse’s/cow’s/goat’s mouth – while we don’t have time to highlight them all, here are a few farm shops across the country to watch out for…

Ardardan Farm Shop

Ardardan Estate, Cardross, Dumbarton

Auchentullich Farm Shop

Arden, Alexandria

Ballinta art Shop 10 The Square, Aberfeldy

Bowhouse St Monans, nr Anstruther

Carfrae Farm Shop

Carfrae Farm, Haddington

Craigie’s Farm Deli and Cafe West Craigie Farm, South Queensferry

Loch Arthur Farm Shop Beeswing, Dumfries

Peel Farm

Bridgend of Lintrathen, Kirriemuir

→ Supermarkets

Mr Big Supermarket thinks he’s got it all, but I’m here to tell you, reader, that he doesn’t! Not even close! He doesn’t have masa harina, or a neverending selection of Indian cooking equipment, or ready-sliced hotpot meat –these locally-run independent supermarkets have all these things, and more.

Akdeniz Mediterranean Supermarket

82-90 Leith Walk, Edinburgh

Akdeniz is the place to go for

ingredients from Turkey and across the Mediterranean, as well as fresh ﬂatbreads and baklava.

Babylon Supermarket

3-5 Commerce St, Glasgow

A huge Middle Eastern supermarket in Kinning Park, Babylon has an in-house bakery and halal butcher alongside fresh ingredients and store cupboard staples from across the region.

Gull’s Grocery

124a Ferry Rd, Edinburgh

An LGBTQ+-run workers’ coop on Ferry Road, Gull’s have a whole bunch of fruit and veg,

fresh options for breakfast and lunch, a cheese counter, coffee and milk from great local suppliers, and a bunch of the food-adjacent stuff (washing up liquid, kitchen roll etc) that Big Supermarket loves to hoover up.

Hing Sing Chinese Supermarket

310 Leith Walk, Edinburgh

Find a bumper range of dried, ba ed, bottled and frozen Asian treats at this longstanding Chinese supermarket on Leith Walk, as well as all the cooking tools you’ll need to turn those ingredients into something great. Bowhouse

restaurant & fine wine

WOODLANDS ROAD, GLASGOW

la cave (OPENING 2025) sinclair drive. glasgow

HUNGRY WOLF

A one-room, family-run Georgian restaurant is a home away from home for Emilie Roberts – and handily, it isn’t very far from home at all

When tasked with writing about a venue that embodies the word ‘community’, choosing The Hungry Wolf was a no brainer. The Georgian restaurant on Iona Street quite literally looks like someone’s kitchen – or rather, someone’s granny’s kitchen. There’s only about four tables inside, covered in wax tablecloths with mismatched chairs, giving the air of a hastily assembled kids table at a family get-together (and I mean that in the most complimentary way).

The menu is entirely contained to one side of an

A4 sheet of paper, which su ests they know what they’re doing, and they absolutely do – the food is incredible. Cheesy, beany, bready goodness and some of the best potato wedges I have ever tasted in my life. I’d ask them what they put on them but I don’t want to know, I am just happy knowing they exist and I can get them in a cosy, friendly establishment that is literally one minute and ten seconds away from my ﬂat.

Ideally, The Hungry Wolf is also located maximum four minutes away from the ﬂats of my best friends, which

makes it the perfect place to convene with them, sharing meals, watching the food getting made behind us in the open kitchen, chatting to the other patrons and enjoying the artwork on the walls of wolves wearing clothes. It’s so close to where we all live, in fact, that if we were so inclined we could just go home to pee. I mean, come on, that’s luxury. Oh, and you can do all of this while sipping on a cold, crisp pint from the Tourmalet next door. That’s community, baby, and it’s perfect.

Photo: Ines Chapleo

iMart Oriental

53 Crow Rd, Glasgow iMart have an outlandish range of stuff from across Japan, China, Korea and beyond, but don’t take our word for it. Find them on Instagram and enjoy what seems to be one member of staff endeavouring to photograph every item in store – now *that* is cooking inspo.

Isan Thai Market

404 Dumbarton Rd, Glasgow

Head to Partick and Isan Thai for an impressive range of Thai fruits, vegetables, herbs, sauces and spices.

Lupe Pintos

24 Leven St, Edinburgh and 313 Great Western Rd, Glasgow

The place to go for Mexican and Central American cupboard staples, from masa for making tacos to all the dried chillis you can imagine. Lupe Pintos punches well above its weight, with one of

the best tequila and mezcal collections in the country, as well as cold cans and homemade salsa and guac for sunny days in the park.

Maqbool's

36 Potterrow, Edinburgh

For fans of food from South Asia, Maqbool's has everything, and we do mean everything. Pans, utensils, spices, oils, fresh veg, there’s a butcher’s counter, pickled bits, sweet stuff – seriously, if you need it, these guys will have it.

Matthew’s Foods

36 Inglis Green Rd, Edinburgh

An enormous Asian supermarket that seems to offer everything in ‘standard’ and ‘super-jumbo-catering’ sizes, Matthew’s tips onto the list thanks to the equally enormous dim sum restaurant they run upstairs. A rucksack full of vinegars and noodles, plate of dim sum, bus up the road; now that is a good trip to the shops.

Shawlands Continental 14 Moss-Side Rd, Glasgow

Which continent? Pals, take your pick. These guys have kimchi, Indian spices, enormous American chocolate bars, Mexican cheese and freshly made tandoori lorne sausage.

Tang Mall 122-128 Dumbarton Rd, Glasgow

Push your way through the plastic curtain in the doorway and you’ll find a huge selection of items from across Asia, but we want to shout out the crisps. If you love a snack but find yourself tiring of the Western European urge to make everything taste like cheese or bacon, get to Tang Mall. So much seafood. So many vegetable flavoured crisps. Lots. Of. Spice.

Taste Of Europe

106B Dalry Rd, Edinburgh

One big British supermarket problem is what we’ll call

THE SHOPS

Photo: Molly Hankinson

Shawlands Continental

‘limited abundance’ – rather than dozens of jams from a few brands, we get 12 different kinds of raspberry. Taste of Europe is the opposite, in that moving a few steps up the aisles takes you into a completely different realm of food. Loads of stuff from across Central and Eastern Europe, with a deli counter as well.

Transylvania Shop and Coffee

462 Victoria Rd, Glasgow

An absolute standout, Transylvania Shop is stuffed to the brim with treats from Romania, Hungary and across Europe, with everything from sweets and cakes to store cupboard staples to fresh herbs and ﬂowers.

→ Treats

Is this a very loose category? Yep. Is it handy that it comes at the end of the alphabetisation? Absolutely! But everyone loves treats, and these folk are making some excellent stuff.

Bare Bones Chocolate

111 King St, Glasgow

Bare Bones focus on single origin chocolate, with some extremely nice branding to go with their extremely nice bars. Their new spot just round from Kings Court is now open; drop in for a hot chocolate and a look around.

Demijohn

Glenlair Steading, Castle Douglas

The world’s ﬁrst liquid deli, Demijohn offer everything

from oils and vinegars to gin liqueurs and ginger wine.

Edward and Irwyn

416 Morningside Rd, Edinburgh

The Scottish-Icelandic duo’s chocolates are incredible, with their Morningside shop the place to go for the full range from hot chocolate ﬂakes to chocolate frogs ﬁlled with salted caramel. Imagine an extremely fancy Freddo, and you’re halfway there.

Gomo Kimchi

138 Allison St, Glasgow

The Southside’s leading purveyors of kimchi, Gomo’s wares can be found in shops across Shawlands and around the city, but head to the source to ﬁnd out more about it (and to bag a kimchi toastie if you time it right).

Mary’s Milk Bar

19 Grassmarket, Edinburgh

The iconic gelato shop just keeps going from strength to strength, with queues pouring out the door and up the road any time the sun’s out. All the gelato is made on the premises, with ﬂavours changing all the time.

Unorthodox Roasters

129 High St, Kinross

We could have named any number of great coffee roasters here (and maybe one day we will), but Unorthodox gets the shoutout because they’re roasting incredible coffee and serving a great ﬂat white in Kinross of all places. Fair play lads, keep up the good work.

Image: courtesy of Unorthodox Roasters

Unorthodox Roasters

↪ To The Source

Raw ingredients, big oranges, lovely folk with a big saw and a great idea for your Sunday lunch – here’s where to go when you want to level up your cooking

Words: Peter Simpson

→ Butchers

Moo. Baaa. Cluck, and, to a lesser extent, quack. If we’re going to eat meat, we should probably try and source the localest, most sustainable meat we can – here are a few Scottish butchers that will help you lessen the impact of your carnivorous ways (and they’ll also sell you a great pie for the walk home).

George Bower Butchers

75 Raeburn Pl, Edinburgh Bower specialises in game and venison – wild meats that have much less impact on the land than your standard cow or sheep. If your budget or stomach won’t stretch to a whole pheasant, they do also offer all the classics, high quality and locally sourced.

S. Collins & Son

7 Lindsaybeg Rd, Chryston, Glasgow

A family business on the edge of Glasgow, Collins & Son are Scottish Butcher of the Year many times over, so of course they’re on the list. All the butcher classics are here, including some great burgers and sausages made in-house.

David Cox

29A Main St, Bridgeton, Glasgow

Another decade-spanning Glasgow butcher, David Cox have been shifting top-notch meats for over 50 years.

Saunderson’s Quality

Family Butcher

40 Leven St, Edinburgh

A multi-generational family business, the staff at Saunderson’s know all there is to know about meat. Crucially, this means if you want something that requires actual deliberate prep at the ‘whole animal’ stage, they will a) understand what you’re talking about and b) make it happen.

→ Farmers Markets

Why go straight to the source when the source will come to you? OK, farmers markets are more meetin-the-middle, but they do offer a chance to get your hands on great local produce without having to go to the actual countryside. Here are a few of our favourites, with more dotted around Scotland…

Arbroath Market

Victoria Park, Arbroath, last Sun of month

Dundee Farmers’ Market City Square, Dundee, third Sat of month

Edinburgh Farmers Market

Castle Terrace, Edinburgh, every Sat

Partick & Shawlands Markets

Mansﬁeld Park off Hyndland St, second and fourth Sat; Langside Ave, ﬁrst and third Sat

Stockbridge Market

Saunders St, Edinburgh; every Sun

→ Fishmongers

Look to your left, and now to your right. In one of those directions is the coast – that’s the beauty of living on the narrow bit of a big island, you’re never that far from the water (and if you’re on a smaller island, even better). The waters off Scotland are full of great ﬁsh and seafood; here’s where to get your landlubbing hands on some of it.

Belhaven Smokehouse

Beltonford Roundabout, Dunbar

Salmon are enormous, and you’ve got to keep them in good nick. That’s the pyromaniacal excuse behind the wonder that is smoked salmon – get yours straight from the source at the Belhaven Smokehouse in East Lothian.

George Campbell & Sons

8 Whitefriars St, Perth

The Campbells have been in business slinging fish to the fine folk of Perth for 150 – head in for boat-fresh fish, imported treats, and handdived scallops.

Eddie’s Seafood Market

7 Roseneath St, Edinburgh

A true Marchmont institution,

GROUND FLOOR

Home to community radio station EHFM, Ground Floor is a shining example of the bonds that can be built around food and drink, writes Anahit Behrooz

I’m writing this sitting in Ground Floor and my best friend has just run in to drop something off behind the counter and run out again and I’ve spent 20 minutes swapping dating horror stories with the barista, and they’ve remembered to cut me off caffeine now that I’m done moving house. I think it’s part of the magic of Edinburgh, a magic that hasn’t (yet) been crushed by the increasing corporatisation of hospitality and the arts: that places like this can exist, part-café, part-community radio station, entirely third space.

I’ve been ﬁxated by the idea of third spaces ever

since I can remember, although I didn’t for a long time realise that there was a term for them, that they had a deﬁnitive social function, and that other people longed and fought for them in the same way that I did. Places like this foster a sense of creative possibility – not just for the people who use the studio, but for the people who pass through the café and now have physical proximity to Edinburgh’s grassroots arts and music scene. Grab a ﬂat white, pick up an old-school toastie or one of Alby’s famous loaded focaccia, and peek into the glass-fronted studio, a

terrarium for softboi DJs and the coolest women you’ve ever met.

The idea behind a third space is that it is somewhere that exists beyond the home and workplace; that is, somewhere that resists the atomising effects of latestage capitalism. It’s the quickest way I can feel connected to a city, or remember why a place I’ve lived in for so long is still home. There are so many complexities to what community building is, but it can also be so simple: the everyday minutiae of familiarity and belonging, extending outwards to everyone.

Photo: Maciej Kawka

Ground Floor

Cocktails, Cocktails, it a as it a as o a ic o a ic

Eddie’s is *the* place to go if you want sashimi-grade ﬁsh. Sushi heads, roll up – while you’re here, pick up some live shellﬁsh and try not to get pinched in the process.

The Pier

12 West Portland St, Troon Stand by the water in Troon, watch the boats out working hard to bring in the shellfish, turn around, see that same shellfish in the window at The Pier. Well, not *the same* shellfish, but you get the point – as fresh as you’re gonna get.

J Pieroni & Sons

47-55 Peebles St, Ayr 2024’s Scottish Fishmonger of the Year has everything you’d look for in the form – a well-stocked counter loaded with all manner of local ﬁsh, bags of advice and insight from the staff, and those extremely on-trend metro tiles you want for your bathroom.

Welch Fishmongers

23 Pier Pl, Newhaven, Edinburgh

It’s a good sign if your ﬁshmonger is next to a big body of water, but it’s a great sign if it has a chip shop next door. Welch is right by the water in Newhaven; nip in for some fresh ﬁnds, then celebrate with a supper from the Fishmarket next door.

Wilson’s Catch of the Day 85 Lauderdale Gardens, Glasgow

First off: great name, 10/10, change nothing. If you’re in the market for some excellent Scottish ﬁsh, and you’re also in the West End… dunno what

else to say really. Go here, buy some ﬁsh. Eat it.

→ Fruits and Vegetables

The Laurel and Hardy of ingredients, in that they’re always welcome, go well together, and have a weird habit of tumbling down the stairs when you least expect it. Here are a few of our favourite indy greengrocers and veg merchants, whether you’re eschewing Big Supermarket altogether, or just need that one elusive vegetable…

Dig-In Bruntsﬁeld

119 Bruntsﬁeld Pl, Edinburgh

A community-run greengroser's with an enticing array of fresh stuff out front, and a bumper selection in the two rooms inside.

Easter Greens

4 Easter Rd, Edinburgh 100% plant-based, this Leith staple has a great selection of fruit and veg as well as all the other bits you’ll need to knock together a fully meatless meal.

Fraser’s Fruit and Veg

300a Perth Rd, Dundee

Great fruit and veg from local farms, a delightful mix of deli treats and a very good beer and wine selection, all in one extremely handy location.

Fruttivendolo

110A Dalry Rd, Edinburgh

The window display at this Italian greengrocer is enticing enough to send you headﬁrst into the glass. Beautiful lemons from Amalﬁ. Tomato varieties you didn’t even know existed. Nectarines the size of your head, and so on and so forth.

Garden Fresh Exotics

28 Park Rd, Glasgow

Garden Fresh have a spectacular array of fruits and veg from right across the map – if you’re hunting for that one elusive ingredient, or just want some cool citrus fruit you won’t ﬁnd elsewhere, check them out.

Global Fruits

5 Gillespie Pl, Edinburgh

An excellently stocked one-room fruit and veg shop with everything you could ever want (and a few things you didn’t even know you wanted), just off Bruntsﬁeld Links.

Locavore

349 Victoria Rd & 449

Dumbarton Rd, Glasgow

Farm fresh, as in, ‘they grew this stuff on their own farm and brought it to the shop, so you know it’s fresh’.

Locavore’s two units are hubs for all things fresh, wholesome and exciting.

Roots, Fruits and Flowers

1137 Argyle St & 457 Great Western Rd, Glasgow

These guys know a thing or two about merchandising. You’ll ﬁnd impeccably arranged fruit and veg out front of Roots, Fruits and Flowers, luring you into a shop with plenty to shout about.

Zucchini Greengrocers

103 Clarkston Rd & 128 Nithsdale Rd, Glasgow

Zucchini have been shifting great fruit and veg to the people of Pollokshields and Cathcart for over 30 years, with a huge range of fresh stuff to pick through.

Roots, Fruits and Flowers

Photo: Amelia Claudia

→ Veg Boxes

If you aren’t sure what is or isn’t in season, need a bit of inspiration for your weeknight dinners, or just don’t fancy carrying a bunch of root vegetables around on the subway, these Scottish farms and veg box companies will deliver farm-fresh produce directly to your door. Many of them offer one-off boxes if you just want to give it a go, and you can often throw other grocery staples into your order while you’re at it.

Bridgefoot Organic

Aberdeen, Stonehaven, Inverurie and the northeast; bridgefootorganic.ooooby.org

Cyrenians

Edinburgh and the Lothians, or collect from shops across Edinburgh; cyrenians.scot

East Coast Organics

Edinburgh and eastern Scotland; eastcoastorganics.co.uk

The Free Company

Edinburgh; the-free-company.com

Kinkell Farm

East Dumbartonshire; kinkellfarm.com

Locavore

Glasgow; locavore.scot

Macleod Organics

Scotland-wide delivery; macleodorganics.scot

Phantassie

East Lothian and Edinburgh; phantassie.co.uk

Photo: courtesy Locavore

Locavore Veg Box

Photo: Adrian Fleur courtesty of Unsplash

People always say that food offers a way to break down barriers and build community – in the case of Arouny Prasimay and her Lao family, that applies quite literally

“K

in khao!”

Though I don’t speak Lao, these two words signalling it’s time to eat are ones I understand loud and clear. Feeling out of place at Lao family gatherings due to my inability to communicate in their native language is a difficult sensation to shake off. Born and raised in France with a British mother and Lao father, this cultural composition does not seamlessly translate to my own sense of self. My last (and only) visit to Laos when I was five concluded on a promise to return once I spoke the language. At the time, I considered this outcome a given, harbouring the naïve belief that my DNA entitled me to magically make this happen. This was, in fact, not fated to materialise – before I knew it, 16 years had slipped by and these ambitions of fluency and travel still have yet to be fulfilled.

The chatter surrounding me at family reunions strikes a chord of acute familiarity from years of

exposure, yet has always been inexorably just beyond the reach of my understanding, starkly highlighting the distance I feel from a community that I technically belong to. Although this frustration is a recurring feeling, thankfully, there is one constant that I know I can always count on: there will be food.

Possessing a painfully limited Lao vocabulary, a hopelessly French accent and coming to a grinding halt if I have to count past ten, my capacities of contribution to Lao conversations are essentially nonexistent. Mealrelated jargon, however, I am wellversed in. Khao niao, khao poun, laab... dish nomenclatures probably account for at least half of my lexicon, which speaks volumes of what was prioritised as culturally essential by family as well as the nature of the majority of our time spent together.

Given this, it will therefore come as no surprise that meals lie at the heart of the time spent in my Lao

“ In situations where words fail us, food is a strong place to start”

relatives’ company and my bi est – if not sole – connection to this culture. With somewhat inhibited capacities of communication from either side, our primary source of connection are the dishes placed on the table between us. Representative of a labour of love, these familiar ﬂavours are intrinsically evocative of the little time I spend in Lao spaces and instrumental in bridging the distance to a culture I sometimes feel worlds apart from. For those of us caught between feeling disconnected from a community we belong to yet have difﬁculty claiming as our own, the universal quality of sharing a meal can represent a fundamental entry point in building our sense of belonging.

Yet food offers a universal way to

connect with others even beyond the context of identity and linguistic barriers. Having grown up in an environment where food is a primary love language, a tendency I have also inherited, I can usually predict my father’s ﬁrst instinct if he catches me upset to offer me a bowl of noodles – a gesture which instantly puts a smile on my face. In situations where words fail us, food is a strong place to start in providing a necessary comfort and connection, and can sometimes speak louder than words.

Arouny Prasimay is an International Business graduate, based between Paris and London. Passionate about all things creative and culinary, she documents her interests on Instagram @arounysappetite

Photo: Samuel Yongbo courtesty of Unsplash

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