2017 in Food So Far

It’s Wine Time
Don’t call it a comeback, they’ve been here for years. Wine bars appear to be making a resurgence; a few months back The Fat Pony (from the team behind venerable Edinburgh bistro The Dogs) joined the likes of Smith & Gertrude and Good Brothers in a new wave of places that you couldn’t really call pubs but within which you would still want to spend a ‘convivial’ evening. Of course, the good thing about this lot is they’re all a) nice places to be and b) serve delicious and varied vinos. We like wine, and are partial to a nice sit-down; as such we are absolutely fine with this continuing until further notice.

Micro Machines
The indie coffee scene in Scotland continues to go from strength to strength. In a similar vein to the craft beer and small-batch spirits waves that have left us all knee-deep in tasty and surprisingly strong liquid, there’s a pleasing level of DIY-ness to the growth of microroasteries across the country. Filament Coffee in Edinburgh’s southside have just opened the doors on their roastery, following in the footsteps of Fortitude, Machina Espresso and Williams and Johnson. Basically, at this rate every coffee shop in the country will be producing its own coffee beans by the end of the decade, and W&J’s dream of coffee planting on the side of Arthur’s Seat will become a reality. To be honest, we’d be on board.

Fest Foot Forward
How do you feel about custom glassware? And strings of connected drinks tastings? What about demonstrations of how to prepare [INSERT DRINK HERE]? If you love all three, you’ll be cock-a-hoop at the apparently endless run of drinks festivals that have sprung up across the country. Tequila, rum, gin, cask beer, bottled beer, whisky, cocktails; there are so many of the little treasures that they keep almost accidentally stealing each other’s names. Just going to the pub is over, folks. Tomorrow's parties, it seems, will be all-ticket and feature ‘street food, live music, and a commemorative glass to take home with you’.

New Veginnings
Shoe’s on the other foot, meat-eaters. After years of people sticking pulled pork on everything, it seems that the vegans are back in full effect. Go into any nice cafe or bar, and there’s a host of vegan-friendly cakes, mains and drinks on display. Say the words ‘nut milk’ to a barista, and you’ll no longer be met with barely-stifled giggles; instead, you’ll probably get into a debate on the relative merits of almond and cashew milk. People have stopped putting bacon on cakes. The future’s bright, and it appears to be almost entirely plant-based.