If you like your flat white served with a conscience (as well as two sugars), then visit Coffee Saints.
This social enterprise cafe, open seven days a week, has just opened at 1 Little King Street, near St James Quarter.
It’s been set up by the team behind the Grassmarket Community Project, which supports some of the capital’s most vulnerable people through mentoring, education and support.
There’s seating indoors and outside, as well as a rather Instagrammable family and dog-friendly interior, which features a living wall of plants, as well as a pair of white neon angel wings to use as a posing backdrop. There’s also a spot for pups to have their photo taken, beside the in-house mascot, Roch (named after St Rock, the patron saint of dogs). You’ll also find a retail space that sells candles, Greyfriars Tartan products, small wooden gifts and homeware - all products that are made by their community members.
“Coffee Saints has been a labour of love for our team over the last few months and I’m delighted we’re now at the stage where we can share that with others”, says Catherine Jones, social enterprise director at Grassmarket Community Project. “A lot of work has gone into the design, layout and décor of the building to create a modern, welcoming space for everyone (dogs included!) and we have a fantastic team of highly skilled staff”.
As well as the coffee, there’s a food menu, which includes pastries, a stack of buttermilk pancakes or The Saint Andrew breakfast, with egg, bacon, sausage, Stornoway black pudding, hash brown, beans, tomato, mushrooms and sourdough bloomer toast. Or, at lunch, dishes include a veggie burger or coconut crusted cod. There’s also a kids menu, a selection of frappes and thick-shakes and the opportunity to buy a £5 voucher to Pay it Forward.
All the proceeds from your visit will be ploughed back into the charity.
“The money goes back to the Grassmarket Community Project, to help us continue our work with some of Edinburgh’s most vulnerable and marginalised adults”, says Jones. “We also offer work experience to those that we support in order for them to become more employable, give them routine and help to remove them from their chaotic lives”.
