Why Ardfern Edinburgh Gets Hospitality Right

Inside Ardfern in Leith, the café, bar and bottle shop from Roberta Hall-McCarron and the team behind The Little Chartroom and eleanore.

Am I getting old, or is beautiful, attentive service becoming as important as what’s actually on the plate? One birthday brunch at Ardfern made a convincing case for hospitality being the ingredient we remember longest.

This weekend, my youngest surprised us with a visit home from university, which meant the four of us could actually do something together. A rarer occurrence these days than I’d like to admit.

She wanted to go to Ardfern for brunch. We’ve been before, and I’m fairly certain there’s a review somewhere on this very site, but she was turning 21 and it was her choice. Ardfern it was.

When I booked a later table online, the familiar box popped up: Is this a special occasion? I ticked yes, then birthday. Lots of restaurants ask this now. Far fewer appear to do anything with the information.

If You Ask, Pay Attention

So here is my small declaration to the hospitality industry: if you’re going to ask, use it. Someone has chosen to spend a birthday, anniversary or other important bit of their life with you. Of all the places they could have gone, they picked yours. It doesn’t require fireworks or a brass band, just some acknowledgement that you noticed.

Ardfern noticed.

From the moment we arrived, we were welcomed with the warmth usually reserved for regulars. In fact, I bumped into an old friend at the door and, while I stopped for a quick catch-up, the birthday girl and the rest of the family were shown to our table.

The Food Matters. So Does Everything Around It

Ardfern is cool. That matters because it is precisely why someone turning 21 wanted to go there. The Leith café, bar and bottle shop comes from chef Roberta Hall-McCarron and the team behind The Little Chartroom and eleanore, so there is serious food pedigree behind the apparently relaxed operation.

The interiors are pared back, the menu considerably less so: clever, unexpected combinations that still feel like something you actually want to eat. And then there’s the service.

We ordered dirty chais and a few things to share first: hash browns with miso mushroom, sesame and spring onion; tempura courgette with smoked almond mayo and nectarine hot sauce; and grilled sourdough with spiced plum jam.

Then came three veggie breakfasts and a full Scottish, complete with venison sausage. By the end, all four of us were thoroughly defeated.

Dessert was politely refused.

And then it arrived anyway.

The Doughnut That Made The Difference

An Ardfern doughnut, filled with spiced plum jam and custard, appeared with a candle in the top. The other diners joined in with a round of applause. See? Cool people can participate in birthday festivities too.

It was delightful, not because it was extravagant, but because somebody had paid attention.

Our leftovers were packed into pretty little boxes and we were sent on our way with the same warmth with which we’d been welcomed. All four of us left feeling rather warm and fuzzy, the birthday girl especially buoyed.

What Good Hospitality Actually Looks Like

And perhaps that’s what I’m increasingly looking for when I eat out. Obviously I want the food to be good, and at Ardfern it was. But there are plenty of places serving good food. The places you remember are the ones that understand hospitality is about more than getting the order right.

Would it make us more inclined to go back? Certainly. Because when you have limited opportunities to get all four of you around one table, you remember the places that seemed genuinely pleased you chose theirs.

Maybe that does mean I’m getting old.

Or perhaps I’ve just finally worked out what good hospitality is.