Roberta Hall-McCarron to open third Edinburgh restaurant

Chef Roberta Hall-McCarron is to open a new café, bar and bottle shop in Edinburgh this May.

Ardfern will be the chef's third venture in the city, joining the Little Chartroom and Eleanore, both of which are recommended in the Michelin Guide Great Britain and Ireland.

The new site is billed as a relaxed all-day restaurant that will serve brunch, bar snacks and heartier dinners alongside cocktails, draught beer, and wine from the on-site bottle shop.

A mixture of counter and table seating will be available, allowing guests to sit at the bar or book a table in advance.

Brunch dishes will include a beef haggis tattie scone with fried duck egg and brown sauce, as well as cooked-to-order filled doughnuts and pastries from Company Bakery.

The daytime menu will revolve around casual dishes such as merguez pâté en croûte, braised beef shin and Isle of Mull cheddar toastie served alongside a wine of around 100 bottles.

Larger dishes will be available in the evening, such as a chicken kofta with date molasses, egg yolk purée and crispy chicken skin, with pies to share.

The bar will also function as a bottle shop with wines available for purchase in-house or online, with options for nationwide delivery.

Ardfern takes its name from the chef's memory of a village in Argyll and Bute and interiors will reference the coastal area.

Hall-McCarron worked Tom Kitchin's the Kitchin in Edinburgh before becoming head chef at Dominic Jack's Castle Terrace.

While there she met McCarron, who eventually became restaurant manager, and the pair launched the Little Chartroom in 2018.

It relocated a short walk away in 2021 when restaurant and wine bar Eleanore took over the original site.

Hall-McCarron represented Scotland in the BBC's Great British Menu in 2020 and 2021 and had a dish served at the final banquet both years.