Leith’s renaissance as an accessible foodie enclave on Edinburgh’s seaside will continue this summer with the first Leith Food Festival, being held on Leith Links on 30 and 31 May.
The new family-friendly festival is setting out to ‘celebrate food, local talent, performing arts, and community’ by showcasing and supporting producers, performers and creatives.
A centrepiece of the event will be a live chef demo stage, which for this inaugural year will be led by Chef Barry Bryson, who opened his first independent fish restaurant at the Shore in Leith last year.
In under a year his venue, Barry Fish, earned a place in the Michelin Guide for Great Britain and Ireland, as well as The Good Food Guide’s UK-wide list of ‘100 Best Local Restaurants’.
Now Bryson will seal his Leith residency by curating and leading a series of cooking demonstrations with other top Scottish chefs over the two-day day event.
Bryson said: “I’m really excited to have been asked to take a leading role at the first ever Leith Food Festival and help promote our local Edinburgh neighbourhood as the capital’s leading food and drink destination.
“I’ll be teaming up with some of my own chef friends and other well-known names from the city’s culinary scene to cook up a storm with some fresh, seasonal and tasty dishes people can easily make at home.
“Above all, we want to make it fun, interactive and accessible for everyone.”
He added: “With Barry Fish, it was always about finding a site in Leith, but never did I imagine we would be opening in such an amazing location as the Shore, just five minutes from Leith Links and the Leith Food Festival.
“Our dining experience is designed for everyone. We are not a special occasion restaurant, but we do want to be a special restaurant. It’s about creating something that fits well with a community of diners – that’s who I am.”
Leith Food Festival director, Michael Johnston, said: “We’re absolutely thrilled to have Barry Bryson on board for the Leith Food Festival. It was important to us to work with someone who not only has outstanding culinary credentials, but who also understands and celebrates the heart of Leith’s food scene.
“Barry brings incredible energy, deep local knowledge and a genuine passion for showcasing local produce, chefs and independent businesses.
“He’ll help us shine a spotlight on the talent that makes Leith such an exciting place to eat and drink, and we can’t wait for audiences to experience the demo theatre under his guidance.”
