By CINDA CHAVICH

(from the Globe and Mail)

(Edinburgh, Scotland) – If ever there was a wonderfully topsy-turvy pub for girls like Alice, it would be the Roseleaf Bar and Café in Leith.

Squeezed in around a tag-sale table, in a cosy back corner of this local pub, we took our “tea” in a motley collection of vintage china tea cups, filled with ice and classic cocktail garnishes, and delivered by a handsome young bartender.

“When you order two or more of the same drink, we bung them in a tea pot,” says publican Jonny Kane, concocting his signature “pot-tails” in an array of old tea pots behind a bar bristling with local beer taps. “It’s not designed to put off men, but it is a pub for mostly females.” 

On this side of the pond, we’re famed for serving tea, but booze in tea pots usually falls into the realm of the unlicensed Chinese restaurant.

Here at Scotland’s quirky little Roseleaf pub, they offer a tea party like no other. You can order vodka and homemade lemonade with rose water (a Rose Water O’Leith), a Chambord, bubbly and passion fruit liqueur Fruit Tingle, or even a muddle of their homemade ginger beer and rum, served over ice in an old-fashioned cup and saucer – and poured from a flowery porcelain pot.

In winter there are steamy “pot-toddies” or even “pot shots” – four or eight shots of your favourite shooters, served in a pot with tiny espresso cups – and in summer, pots of boozy punch. They do their “adult high tea” any time, or you can book their Mad Hatter’s Tea Party, complete with “sandwiches and fairy cakes” (cupcakes), and a selection of wacky antique hats to wear to enhance the mad, girly mood.

Kane and his wife Lyn revived the historic Black Swan pub in the once crime-ridden port area of Leith (think Trainspotting) by filling it with eclectic antiques and serving a family-friendly all day menu featuring locally-sourced, organic foods, from Funky Beans on Organic Toast with a free range egg for breakfast, to a Ploughman’s Platter with their own spicy onion jam and pickled shallots.

While the drugs and prostitution are gone, the burly ex-Navy man says Leith still has its edge, and that’s what makes it an interesting neighborhood to explore. A short 10-minute drive from downtown Edinburgh, the old seaport is now a hip corner of town, where old stone whisky bonds (warehouses) have been repurposed into chic flats and offices that look out across the Firth of Forth. Now you can bed down in the cool Malmaison Hotel (once a seamen’s hostel) or dine at The Kitchin, chef Tom Kitchin’s stylish one-star Michelin restaurant on the water’s edge.

“It’s only in the last very few years that the ladies of the night disappeared but things have really been cleaned up,” says Kitchin, serving a perfect appetizer of local razor clams (spoots) and squid, garnished with sweet slivers of dried lime, and crisply fried filets of red mullet with salty samphire and bright green peas in an intense langoustine broth.

“The place was pretty run down and rough - I imagine they’d be very surprised to see foie gras in Leith,” he adds, “but there’s been a phenomenal revolution here.”

There’s nothing rough or seedy about the dockside streets any more – The Water of Leith Walkway skirts the Pentland hills, following the river’s edge through the city. At the nearby Ship on the Shore, diners crowd outdoor tables along the street, downing platters of fresh oysters, big bowls of steamy local mussels, Scottish lobster, scallops and Arbroath Smokies, with bottles of house champagne.

“Leith is actually like a small town, attached to Edinburgh, with a funkier, more youthful feel to it,” says Kitchin of this eclectic corner of the city by the sea.

The Royal Yacht Britannia is now permanently moored here, and at the Royal Deck Tea Room, you can peek into the lives of the rich and famous, or stop for a cuppa. But it’s not as much fun as the boozy pot-tails at Kane’s Roseleaf.

“It’s a bohemian area, and we try to shake every stigma,” he says, draining another fruity concoction into a mismatched cup and saucer.

Whether you’re looking for fresh seafood, chic shops or funky local pubs that offer topsy turvy tea, Leith is a wonderland for wandering. Alice would approve.

A MAD WORLD OF HIGH TEA

It all started in Britain, but high tea is all the rage in Canada. Here are some cool places to plan a tea party:

Fairmont Empress Hotel, Victoria

Take afternoon tea in the majestic lobby of this Victoria hotel – try their own Empress Blend or imported teas from Assam, Jenya, Ceylon and China. There’s even a Princess Tea especially for little Alices.

The Wedgewood Hotel, Vancouver

The Wedgewood hosts its Royal Afternoon Tea every Saturday and Sunday afternoon between 2 and 4 p.m. in its opulent Bacchus Lounge. Come for the tea, and the pastry chef’s lemon chiffon cake with white chocolate ganache.

Rocky Mountaineer, Vancouver to Whistler

Nothing could be more spectacular than the view of British Columbia’s coastal mountains and rugged coast while taking afternoon tea on this comfortable train from Whistler to Vancouver. Save room for scones with clotted cream and lemon tarts.

Le Meridien King Edward Hotel, Toronto

From pastries to finger sandwiches, raspberry sandwich cookies and lavender-scented madeleines, The King Eddie does afternoon tea to a T.

IF YOU GO:

 

Air Canada flies direct to London from major Canadian cities, and you can carry on to Edinburgh on British Airways or BMI, or take the four-hour train trip, direct from London’s King Cross to Waverly station.

Leith Walk is the main road that leads out of downtown Edinburgh to Leith, once a separate community, and site of the dockyards, but now a trendy, gentrified neighborhood. It’s just 10 minutes from the Royal Mile by car or local bus.

 

EAT:

Roseleaf Bar Café – An institution in Leith, the Roseleaf is the perfect pub for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and of course, tea. The comfort food menu is fresh and local (smoked cheddar mac and cheese, creamy Cullen Skink or homemade scones and jam) and the creative cocktails are served in garage sale china. Mingle with the locals after work in the front – standing room only – or sneak into the back for a cosy table.

23-24 Sandport Place, Edinburgh, www.roseleaf.co.uk

 

The Kitchin – Chef Tom Kitchin’s theme is “from nature to plate” and you’ll find few Scots doing the locovore thing better. Personable and passionate, he was awarded a Michelin star six months after opening, for his modern Scottish cuisine that’s driven by seasonal freshness and a real love of good cooking. A stylish room in a converted whisky warehouse.

78 Commercial Quay, Leith, Edinburgh www.thekitchin.com

 

The Ship on the Shore –Murray Georgeson specializes in fresh Scottish seafood at this casual spot (Tom Kitchin’s family go-to place) with piles of fresh mussels and chunky chips, fluffy fish cakes, fat Skye langoustines, Arbroath smokies and creamy fish chowder. Wash it down with a beer in the pub-like dining room, or enjoy it all at a street-side patio table, overlooking the Water of Leith.

24-26 The Shore, Leith, Edinburgh www.theshipontheshore.co.uk

 

SLEEP:

Malmaison Hotel, Leith – This stylish boutique hotel in the historic red brick Seaman’s Mission - a former hostel for sailors - overlooking the docks along the Firth of Forth, has a cool, sexy vibe. It’s right in the centre of town and there’s a great little brasserie/bar with a view to the water, and just 100 compact rooms dressed in rich fabrics and colors. Pick up a walking tour card at the front desk and hit the town, or check out the selection of wine and beer at the sexy bar.

1 Tower Place, Leith, Edinburgh, Edinburgh@malmaison.com

 

Hotel Missoni – If you want to take it up a notch, stay at the five-star, uber-chic Missoni overlooking the Royal Mile in Edinburgh. Clad in wood and sandstone panels, with a black and white interior, shot with the Italian fashion designer’s bold colours and fabrics, it’s an architectural marvel and a fashion statement. Newly opened, it’s the first Missoni hotel among a planned 30 worldwide. Meet beautiful people at the bar or check Roy Brett’s new restaurant, Ondine, with its curved crustacean bar and platters of fresh-caught fish.

1 George IV Bridge, Edinburgh www.hotelmissoni.com

 

OTHER SPOTS FOR BOOZY TEA PARTIES:

The Carreg in Pembrokeshire melds the customary 5 o’clock tea tradition with the modern after-work cocktail, with it’s cocktails in tea pots (a hangover from Prohibition, they say). www.thecarregrestaurant.co.uk

 

Bond 45, a modern, masculine-looking bar and steak house at National Harbour in Maryland, is channeling the New York, Prohibition-era speakeasy with its period cocktails served in antique tea pots. www.bond45.com

 

The High Tea Lounge at the Loft in Sydney, Australia. This upscale cocktail bar perched high about the Sydney waterfront serves teapot cocktails like Earl Grey spiked with almond vodka and apricot brandy, with canapés and sweets, on weekend afternoons. theloftsydney.com

 

©Cinda Chavich 2010

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