Walking into Roseleaf is like walking into a beautiful, inviting menagerie.
But instead of exotic animals, there are teapots and tea cups in use and on display, quirky antique items on floral walls, an assortment of dining furniture with stories of previous owners, and plants, plants, plants in every window. The charm of a home-cooked aroma fills your lungs and ignites your senses, and an easiness between the staff who are like family lets you know that you have stepped into a special place. As you take it all in, in all its wonderful eccentricity, you breathe out, feeling ready to experience what is uniquely and deliciously Roseleaf.
Set in historical Leith, Roseleaf sits in an old hotel that once-upon-a-time was titled The Black Swan, which, in her hay-day, dawned a red lamp and hosted a number of young ladies and guests within Leith’s “area of disrepute.” Though the area has no such current associations, Jonny Kane, Roseleaf’s owner, notes, “When we opened, we jokingly put a red light above the door and (after stirring up some notice) soon took it down!”
Today, there are a few reasons Roseleaf would be noticed by locals and travelers alike, but before we dive into that pool, we ask Jonny how Roseleaf came about.
From Roseleith to Roseleaf, a win-win
In good humor, dressed in a big grin, Jonny starts with a long pause: “So… it was my wife’s fault…” After a bit of explanation, connecting his wife’s hand in the matter, he sums it up with, “We went to look at a property up on Rose Street (in Edinburgh’s New Town) which is now called The Black Rose. That’s partly where the name came from, but it was going to be called Roseleith… a little bit of Leith in the city. That was the original concept.” Their plans for obtaining that particular property went south due to bad timing, and that’s when their current location, 23/24 Sandport Place came up for lease.
At the time, the establishment was what you’d call “an old man’s drinking bar”, Jonny says as he points to the various places where fixed seating, and a guy in an armchair and a tv would have sat. “We came in and [the guy] was like, ‘auugghh… customers’, and there was no one in the pub, but then he got excited because we told him we were looking for a unit, and then he sold us it! He’d been in the game and was just wanting out, and we wanted in, so it was a win-win.”
The early days
Within just ten days prior to opening on Friday, July 13th of 2007, Jonny, his wife, and a few other guys converted the typical old man’s pub into what would evolve and become a new generation’s Roseleaf. “A hundred years of bums sitting up on those shelves”, he points to the deep brown back bar shelving he made from traditional, antique church pews. An impressive slew of in-house designed bottles containing precisely premixed cocktails sitting proud on the converted shelf. And the flooring? All original. He looks about, thinking aloud of the décor, “It wasn’t a divine, super well thought out strategy. It just luckily all happened. We basically started this place on a whim, and it’s just evolved. All the staff have helped tweak it into current form.”
In the early days, they started with what they had: a domestic kitchen. “It was more lunch-time based and wasn’t as high-end or as established food-wise. It was what we could do.” Jonny recounted. Nowadays they have a commercial-grade kitchen, and serve delicious creations all day, from a full-on scotch breakfast to a “Smokin’ Steak” dinner. Itching to know, we ask them what plates and sips they’re best known for.
We start with drinks
Specialty cocktails termed Pot-tails or Cock-pots, if you’d rather, have been their flagship drink offering since nearly the beginning. Ginger Jerry, their in-house, freshly juiced ginger beer was among the first drinks served at Roseleaf in the fashion of a Pot-tail. Jonny chimes, “When we first started serving Ginger Jerry, we served them in a water jug, and people were like, ‘Can I get it in a pitcher, like for a cocktail?’ and we were like, ‘Just have it in a teapot.’ and as soon as we’d done it, everybody was like, ‘I want one of them!’ and that was it.’”
Apparently, this cheeky, chintzy teapot idea came from Jonny’s navy days. “I remember going to Kochi, India on the west coast. To get an alcohol license was quite expensive for the local restauranteurs but they didn’t want to not provide those who wanted a lagger—to not supply it, so they gave it in a teapot… so if anyone was walking by…” A telling look on his face says it for him: Not a soul would suspect a thing. “That was my first encounter—embedded moment of the idea—and you know you have a laugh about it.”
Laugh about it one may, but the idea took off, and Roseleaf took on the raging demand for what came to be known as their Mad Hatter tea parties. “When the hats were out and up on the walls, customers would ask to wear them and went crazy for the fancy dress. And it was good and fun, but we’ve retired the tea parties because they tended to attract a certain clientele,” Jonny says.
Kylie Parsons, one of Roseleaf’s Managers, and the in-house designer for their specialty cocktail bottles explains, “The tea parties were all about those in the party spirit, but we were really well known for brunch, and the brunch people were kind of like, ‘That’s a bit much…’ and the tea partiers were like, ‘Why are these guys so quiet…?’”
Alas, it turns out that Covid finished off the occupancy held by the long admired ladies’ hats adorning the floral walls. Jonny looks to the lush greenery all around the place, “Now we’ve got this lovely foliage because the hats were covid-sponges, so we had to retire them in the current climate.”
But the Pot-tails are still available…right? Jonny assures us with a hearty “Yes” that they are still very much in the business of serving their well-loved and famous Cock-pots… just no more wild “hen parties”.
“You don’t see these on another back bar”
We take a moment to take in the healthy selection of their specialty, meticulously premixed cocktails, admiring the unique, intricately-designed labels. “You don’t see these on another back bar,” Jonny says, “We try to get a bit of Leith pop culture into what we do. Like the banana flats’ brutalist architecture from the ’60s (a stones-throw away), which is now a listed building…we made a tribute to them with a flat white espresso martini called the ‘Banana Flat’. We try to put a shout out to where we are without being patronizing or gentrifying or anything.”
Graham Parsons, the other manager, adds, “The names on the food menus and the drinks—we try to celebrate Leith and little things about Leith that make it fun.”
Speaking of the food menu, we ask which dish really draws the crowd. “Overall, what food draws the people in varies because the menu depends on the season, and what’s fresh. In the winter, the sticky toffee pudding is it because it’s warming.” Our mouths start watering. “Breakfast-wise, our big breakfast is what sells, even on a hot day, it’s full-on, but it’s what they come for: breakfast,” Jonny says with a grin that seems to say, “I vouch!” At this point, the staff pretty well knows what favorites will be called on by the customers from season to season. At the minute, Scotch eggs are the mouth-watering wonder, but Jonny assures us that the “Jock Benny” is just as appealing, it being his favourite breakfast item on the menu. Picture it: steaming eggs Benedict, the aroma of a hearty helping of haggis, and the iron-rich superfood that gets taken as seriously as the national football team: black pudding.
On this note, Jonny becomes enthusiastic, “Black pudding has provenance, just like champaign. For example, Stornaway Black Pudding has a significant flavor profile because of the island’s specific climate and their beef produces specific flavor. If it’s called Stornaway, it has to be from Stornaway.” Apparently, there are seven major butchers who produce black pudding, and none of them will eat their rivals’ creations. Jonny, laughing, tells us about a family who once came into Roseleaf demanding to know whose black pudding was on the menu. “At the time, we served Charles McLeod,” he recounts, “and the customer was like, ‘that’s alright, he’s my brother!’ and they ate it.”
“Good pub-grub with a cuddle”
Summing up the chat about their offerings, we ask them to describe the tasty creations of their establishment. “Basically the food we try and do is good pub-grub with a cuddle,” Jonny says thoughtfully. Then, adding cheek to the idea, he laughs, “A culinary hug.” He follows up, taking a more contemplative tone, “From grandkids to granny’s… as a community pub, that’s what you want to do. That’s a massive part of the success is that you appeal a little bit to everyone. If you’re a community pub, you have to provide for everyone.” Graham adds to the thought, “We strive to have warm, friendly, relaxed service, but a lot of hard work goes into that because if you’re going to do that, you have to be really good at your job as well. So you can be mucking about having a laugh with the customers, but you have to know what’s going on around with the service as well.”
As the Restaurant/Café winner of our Best of Leith competition, we recognize that Roseleaf must be unique in some respect to their contemporaries around Leith, so we ask them to help enlighten us. After a moment, Jonny humbly states, “I wouldn’t blow our own trumpet. I’d just say, we try and be a comfortable place where you want to hang out, and be as least pretentious or hipster as possible. It’s a fine line, again!” he says laughing, “I suppose what we try to do is provide the best service, and like Graham was saying, look as casual doing it. We try to be effortless when we can be.”
A moment passes, and then Graham looks up, “It’s a tough place to fit into. You’ve got the Michelin places, the really high-end places, and some other places that regard themselves as fine dining. We try to hit the mark by providing really good food, really good service, and something that’s accessible for people price-wise and with friendliness.” Jonny tacks on, “… and do it with a giggle… unless you don’t want a giggle!”
Turning the conversation back to the local community and culture of Leith, Kylie adds, “Leith’s funny because it is a diverse mix. And it’s changing a lot because there are so many more people coming into the area. It’s not diluting it, I think it’s just all part of the mix… We do have a younger crowd now and brunch is such a thing now. Following on from us all going out and pubbing. It’s much more interesting coming out and having brunch, and having a special cocktail, or a special local beer now. We’re really spoiled for choice in the area, Moonwake, Newbarns, Pilot, Camper Van, Lind & Lime… there’s loads of different amazing stuff that you get in the area. This is a really exciting area to be in for local beer and spirits.” Graham recounts, “In the old days it was like, ‘here’s a pint of Tenets.’ Today, we’re finding young people don’t like to drink as much. We try to keep up and evolve with all the trends.”
Barrie!
As we wrap up the chat with Jonny, Kylie, and Graham, we ask them one final question: In only three words, how would they describe their beloved Roseleaf? After going through a handful of worthy contenders, they settle on the following:
Roseleaf is… #1 Cozy, #2 Barrie (Leith chat for “Brilliant”), and #3 Friendly.
By the end of our visit, as we walk out with a smile on our faces, and a laugh in our bellies, we come away knowing for ourselves why Roseleaf is what it is today. The people and the camaraderie and the intentionality behind the scenes have set a solid foundation for Roseleaf to thrive and spill over into every aspect of the establishment. The celebration of good hospitality, unique offerings, and local culture seems to be built into both Leith and its best restaurant/café of 2022: Roseleaf.
Congratulations Roseleaf! And a big thanks to all the local businesses who participated in our Best of Leith Competition 2022!
You are each a hidden gem in the community, and we appreciate everything you bring to Leith.
-Isaac Elmore, Founder of NEAR
