One of Edinburgh’s favourite neighbourhood breakfast, brunch and lunch spots, The Pantry, is offering a food delivery service to Edinburgh and beyond.
Delivery launches on Tuesday the 19 May and the service already has over 1000 sign ups for exclusive early access.
The idea of the service, 'pantry at home' is that of co-owner , Charlotte Thompson, and the new business comes under The Pantry umbrella, which includes two restaurants, a pop up ‘tuck truck’ and an all encompassing catering and events service.
Diners can look forward to comforting classics in ready meal form, including: ale braised ox tail, parsley mash, parmesan and panko crumb as well as gorgonzola, confit garlic, cavolo, mixed shrooms mascarpone and gnocchi.
In time the team hope to deliver breakfast and brunch favourite as well as teatime treats.
Co-owner chef, Chris Thompson says: “I’ve missed being in the kitchen. But I’ve spent the time making up dishes that will taste just as mouth-watering reheated and enjoyed at home.
"As well as making sure the hot dishes that we will introduce later, travel well and taste just as good as if you were in our restaurant. I’m excited to bring what people love and enjoy to them during a time it will be appreciated more than ever.”
The Pantry, who has had to furlough 100 per cent of their team during lockdown, has been able reinstate two members of the team who will support the launch of the delivery service.
As the offering develops and the public look for a different way to enjoy food in the future, Charlotte believes having this additional channel which caters for a ‘new normal’ will benefit her customers.
She says: “We’ve missed the restaurants and our customers and we can’t wait for that to resume when the time is right.
"But until that is safe and possible, I wanted to bring something positive to people who have been so supportive of us. This delivery service will operate within the city bypass but I knew I wanted to be able to send beyond that too.
"The Pantry is about neighbourhood communities so being able to deliver to places like North Berwick, Midlothian and Livingston was important to me.”
Customers can sign up to order via the Pantry website where they can also opt to pay it forward and send a meal to a loved one or deserving someone in their community as well as to two local charities; Make 2nds Count and Soul Food.
The Pantry at home will be available from Tuesday to Saturday with a 24 hour turnaround period; orders on Monday will be delivered on Wednesday and so on.
All dishes are delivered in 100 per cent compostable containers with instructions on how to serve and reheat at home.
Within the city bypass, food will be delivered before 4pm on the delivery day. Beyond the bypass, set delivery days will be assigned to different areas including East, West and Midlothian.
Delivery can be made as far as Livingston and North Berwick. There will be set days for outside the bypass:
West Lothian - Tuesday
Midlothian - Wednesday
East Lothian - Thursday
Delivery of brunch and lunch will begin in late May.
