To market 

There’s a brace of new markets launching, and while they’re not 100% food and drink focused, there’ll be more than enough local produce to fill that cute woven basket. Wishing Tree By The Sea café are behind a new monthly Sunday market at Dunbar’s Lauderdale Park, promising lovely stalls with an East Lothian slant (monthly from Sunday 19 May). 

In Clarkston, Greenbank Garden Market starts this weekend. Set in the gorgeous Greenbank Gardens, it’s also a monthly Sunday affair. There’s a café too and it’s all fully accessible (monthly from Sunday 5 May). 

And if ‘market’ means ‘grab tea and eat it right here without any of that cooking palaver’ to you, then rejoice: Edinburgh’s Neighbourgood Market is back for the summer. For a full 12 weeks, Edinburgh Accies’ Stockbridge grounds will be home to a rotating cast of some of the city’s best-loved street food traders and bars (Wednesday 8 May—Sunday 28 July). 

New openings to explore

There’s something of a smell of fresh paint around the place as a bunch of new spots fling open their doors. Online wine retailer Bludge Wine have opened a bricks and mortar shop in Edinburgh’s Restalrig and are promising tastings and all sorts. (They’ve taken over from East Coast Cured who have moved up the road to bigger premises.) 

In sunny South Queensferry, Dune Bakery are set for their soft launch. From the people who brought you Plant Bae, locals are revving up for pastry, cookies, focaccia, coffee and those croissants, with the promise of bread to come when they’ve got to grips with the kitchen. Yum. 

And there’s a new vegan deli at Glasgow’s iconic Barras. Sgaia Italian Deli will be open every weekend, with a full range of vegan products and ingredients as well as hot breakfast rolls (lorne-style veeg sausage, anyone?) and lunch specials. 

Other things to get excited about

In Edinburgh, Holy Crust Pizza nights are popping up at the gorgeous Café Milk at Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop every single Friday, and we cannot think of a better way to end the working week than with a slice and a £5 Negroni (from Friday 10 May). 

There are still a few spots left for Barry Fish & Farm, chef Barry Bryson’s really, really excellent pop-up at Bruntsfield’s Honeycomb & Co: move fast like a shark though, he wraps up on Saturday. But there’s still plenty of fish around: Edinburgh Seafood Festival returns to St James Quarter this weekend. Chef Gary Maclean will host a pop-up Oyster & Champagne Bar, with tonnes of demonstrations and events across the weekend. 

And what’s the word on the street from the team with the heat (in other words, what’s caught Team List’s collective eye this month?) The fantastic refurb of The Huxley, Kyloe and The Rutland Hotel is beyond, we can’t wait to try new coffee spot Origin Coffee on South College Street and, come 26 May, you’ll almost definitely find us in the Pie Shop queue at 101 Bakery. 

Still hungry? Look inside the issue… 

Suzy Pope’s exposé of review culture has some searingly honest commentary from some big hospitality names: take a look before you pen your next TripAdvisor review. We check out hot new Edinburgh spot Cardinal; David Kirkwood spills the noods on neighbourhood joint Umami, and we answer the eternal question (well, the question people always ask us, anyway): where’s good for pre-theatre in Glasgow and Edinburgh?