New Edinburgh bar, restaurant, cafe and bottle shop from award-winning chef opening in Leith

An exciting new venue from the team behind some of Edinburgh best restaurants is set to open this spring.

Award-winning chef Roberta Hall McCarron will bring Ardfern, a new café, bar, restaurant and bottle shop to Leith in May. It will be the third city venue for Roberta and husband Shaun, who own acclaimed eateries The Little Chartroom and Eleanore.

Located next door to The Little Chartroom on Bonnington Road, Ardfern takes its name from a village in Argyll and Bute. The all-day dining venue will offer brunch, bar snacks and heartier dinners alongside cocktails, draught beer and wine from its bottle shop.

A day at Ardfern will begin with brunch, featuring a selection of Scottish staples such as a beef haggis tattie scone, fried duck egg, brown sauce and a full Scottish breakfast with thick-cut bacon, homemade haggis & tattie scones. Lighter options like overnight oats with fig jam and almond crunch, and BBQ flatbread with girolles, asparagus and mushroom marmalade will also be available alongside cooked-to-order filled doughnuts, pastries from Company Bakery and freshly squeezed juice.

Daytime will revolve around leisurely bites accompanied by cocktails and a carefully curated wine list of 100 or so bottles. Dishes will include merguez pâté en croûte, braised beef shin & Isle of Mull cheddar toastie and oysters served either naturally or with a seaweed hot sauce, as well as a selection of charcuterie and cheeses from beloved Scottish suppliers. The cocktail list is inspired by aperitivo classics and contemporary takes using a selection of local spirits.

As night falls, the menu will shift towards larger, heartier plates of food.

Speaking to our sister paper, The Scotsman, Roberta said: “We want Ardfern to be a place where people can come at any time of the day for any occasion and really be able to treat it as their own. Be it a morning meeting over a coffee, a glass of wine after work or a celebratory brunch or dinner. We want it to be totally accessible.”