This Scottish restaurant's founders bounced from pop-up to Michelin-starred success with reasonably priced fare. James Stagg discovers how they play with the menu
While the pandemic put a stop to most hospitality businesses, others were spawned as the playing field was levelled by the rush to source packaging and switch to delivery. It meant that agile start-ups could compete and largely outmanoeuvre more established businesses. Most of those delivery brands are now defunct, with some notable exceptions. Few, however, can boast going from lockdown pop-up to Michelin-starred restaurant.
But that's the trajectory Tomas Gormley and Sam Yorke have taken since launching their Bad Seeds high-end home delivery brand in Edinburgh back in 2020 before opening a bricks and mortar site, Heron in Leith, in July 2021 and being awarded a Michelin star in the 2023 guide.
Gormley and Yorke met at Seasons restaurant in Edinburgh, where they worked together briefly, before Yorke went to join Dominic Jack at Castle Terrace and Gormley moved to Restaurant Andrew Fairlie. They reunited during lockdown to launch what is now Heron, situated in the same picturesque docks that house Restaurant Martin Wishart and Tom Kitchin's the Kitchin.
"We weren't necessarily looking to open a permanent place but we saw a couple of sites and found our new home," explains Yorke, who at 25 must be the youngest chef to have earned a Michelin star in Scotland. "It was a beautiful building and it took a fair bit of work to get it to where it is now. Fortunately, a lot of my family are tradesmen so they came up from Manchester to help us."
With 40 covers set across two levels, the high-ceilinged dining room with light walls feels spacious and airy, having been given a minimalist makeover. Floor to ceiling windows with views over the water allow plenty of light to fall on the largely wooden interior, which is dotted with plants.
Two keenly priced menus are on offer, with a tasting menu for £99 and a five course à la carte offer at £69. "Our drinks list is the same, good wines but at an accessible price – we don't slap a blanket 75% on bottles like some do," adds Yorke. Having forged connections with artisan suppliers and local farms, the dishes created by the six-strong chef brigade are super-seasonal and designed to highlight the quality of produce available in the area.
"It's a cliché but it's true. The larder here is the best in the world," says Yorke. "There are fantastic organic farms within 15 miles of us too. It's just such a great place to be for produce."
When The Caterer visited in March, Yorke and Gormely had been serving langoustines, the shells of which they used for a warming broth with tarragon and hibiscus to welcome diners. Meanwhile, a beautifully plump Orkney scallop was served sliced and paired with blood orange and ponzu.
A consequence of constantly changing the menu is endless printing, so Yorke has come up with a solution to daily tweaks depending on the fish availability by listing market fish on the menu.
"We had to call it that as it was causing a problem constantly changing the menu," he confirms. "We just get a call from the supplier and take whatever's great on the day. It could be turbot, brill or red mullet."
On our visit it was red mullet, served with wild garlic, clams and salty fingers. The fish is cooked over coals on a Konro Japanese grill before being served with a light clam broth and a crisp shard of fried wild garlic.
"We're classically trained so there's still a lot of pan work, but it's nice to use the barbecue as it really provides an interesting point of difference," says Yorke.
Another efficiency is buying whole carcasses for butchery in-house, making for variety in the menu and allowing for creativity from the chefs. "We've just got a whole pig in and we used it for loads of different things," explains Yorke. "We send a little of it up to Skua [the pair's new casual site in Edinburgh] and it has kept us going for some time."
Cuts from the leg were served with apple and dill on our visit, having been brined and cooked sous vide before finishing on the grill. "We finish it on the barbecue brushed with a garlic gastrique," Yorke adds. "It's rested and carved and served with a dill emulsion, apple purée, crispy kale, capers, cornichons and parsley, with a pork sauce brushed on the top."
With Michelin recognition and a second site, Gormley and Yorke have come a long way since those first delivery kits landed in 2020. "Now it's about maintaining the standards we've set," says Yorke. "It's obviously a great confidence boost to be recognised, but the whole team is really focused on improving."
From the menu
- Cucumber, jalapeño, sesame
- Veal sweetbread, Exmoor caviar
- Crab, lovage, apple, almond
- Mackerel, grapefruit, fig leaf, hazelnut
- Quail, cherry, spelt, chard
- Sika seer, celeriac, grape, walnut
- Gubbeen, heather honey, olive oil
87-91A Henderson Street, Leith, Edinburgh EH6 6ED
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