Gardener's Cottage opens second Edinburgh restaurant

Dale Mailley and Edward Murray have opened Quay Commons bakery, bar and dining space in Leith this week (19 June).

Gardener’s Cottage launched in 2012 to critical acclaim, and was dubbed ‘exceptional’ by AA Gill in The Sunday Times​ and ‘perfect’ by The Observer’s​ Jay Rayner.

The restaurant’s menu of local, seasonal Scottish produce also saw it voted the Waitrose Good Food Guide Reader’s Restaurant of the Year 2014 in Scotland.

Now the team have branched out with Quay Commons, a new open plan site born out of the need for a larger space to butcher and cure meat and bake batches of the restaurant’s signature sourdough bread.

Open seven days a week, Quay Commons serves morning coffee and breakfast bakes, lunches and a dinner menu centred around flatbreads, pasta and homemade charcuterie.

The restaurant also operates as a fully-licensed wine shop with visitors encouraged to enjoy a glass on-site and take the remainder home.

“We are humbled to be opening a sister restaurant to our much-loved, Gardener’s Cottage, and that Leith – an iconic part of Edinburgh with such a rich heritage of food – will be our home,” says Mailley.

“As we get up and running in our new premises, we extend an invitation to all, to visit us for a coffee, a glass of wine or a slice of freshly baked sourdough.”