Open Up

Suzy Pope takes a look at a new Edinburgh street-food hub which insists it can counter anything the Scottish weather can throw at it. Despite its entertainment-complex setting, it promises to be fiercely independent

As we mourn the temporary loss of The Pitt (don’t worry, it’s moving to Granton), and various neighbourhood markets are closed for the season, there’s a void in Edinburgh’s casual dining scene. This gap can only be filled by fastcooked food served on Vegware plates, communal tables and options that suit every taste and dietary requirement: yes, we need a street-food hub. Luckily, Edinburgh Street Food (ESF) is opening this February on Leith Street. But can somewhere within an entertainment complex like the Omni Centre capture the nonchalant spontaneity of a street-food hub? And hasn’t someone thought of the weather?

Those that keep up with this shifting scene across Edinburgh will recognise a few names on the roster of vendors that have been slated for this new spot. European Street Food champion Junk will be offering their pun-filled menu of fine-dining meets paper napkins, alongside vegan Mexican tacos from Antojitos, tequeños from British Street Food winner The Peruvian, and Scotland’s first taste of mochi doughnuts from SoftCore by Bundits of Leith.

Speaking with Andrew Marshall, co-founder of ESF, we address the hulking great elephant in the room: how will the fleet-of-foot, ramshackle expectations of a street-food market be met within the fluorescent-lit corridors and Slug-And-Lettuce vibe of the Omni Centre? ‘Anyone from Edinburgh knows that the Omni is the Omni,’ he says. ‘But Edinburgh Street Food is a proudly independent company and all our vendors are independent.’ So there’ll be no shopping-mall food-court chains here, with ESF carving off a separate space with its own entrance from Leith Street, featuring sizzling kitchens and servers bustling between long tables. The dining space will spill out into the square beside the Omni, with Calton Hill forming a picturesque backdrop.

Scotland’s weather often takes the blame for our limited streetfood offerings; indeed, it’s hard to enjoy pulled jackfruit tacos and arepas when ice-cold mizzle is settling into your bones. So, rather than the night markets of Bangkok or food carts of Oaxaca, ESF looked to Scandinavia and across Europe for inspiration. When Copenhagen (statistically Europe’s rainiest city) and Oslo can host sprawling street-food successes, there’s no reason why the Scottish capital can’t. The solution is having an indoor space: but does this contradict the very idea of ‘street food’? Marshall disagrees, explaining their vision is to have ESF ‘feel like an extension of the pavement’. The tables will be covered by pergolas and peppered with heaters for all-weather dining.

ESF were also inspired closer to home. ‘The likes of The Pitt and Glasgow’s Big Feed set the foundations for street food in Scotland,’ Marshall says. He commends The Pitt’s community spirit, where it was about local events as well as food, and being a hub for people to casually gather without a plan or a booking. Marshall has the same vision for ESF to give something back, running open events throughout the year and raising money for a 24-hour mental-health drop-in centre from their revenue.

Edinburgh Street Food opens on Saturday 25 February, edinburgh-street-food.com