An Edinburgh entrepreneur is realising a dream by transforming a popular bar in Canonmills into "one of the best wee pubs in town" with an enticing menu of pizzas and cocktails.
Martin Duffy has worked in the capital's food and drink scene since he was a teenager but always fancied the idea of owning his own bar.
The drinks entrepreneur, who previously helped to create the capital's original gin festival, Juniper Fest, was finally given the chance to take over the former Brandon's site in Canonmillls in 2019.
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And despite the unfortunate timing, has loved being able to covert the venue into what he believes a modern Scottish bar should be.
"I've been in hospitality since my teenage years and by my early 20s was shaking cocktails," he explained. "As you can imagine the natural desire to open a bar was there and in 2019, I took the opportunity to take on the lease for what was Brandon's at the time. The opportunity to take a pub with a loyal local fanbase and shape it into my ideal of the modern Scottish pub was too good to pass up."
Originally naming the bar One Canonmills, Martin said as time went on, shortening it to the simpler One Canon "just made sense".
Describing Canonmillls as the perfect area for the bar, lying close as it does to the Royal Botanic Garden and Stockbridge, while only a short walk through the New Town from the city centre or up the Water of Leith from the Shore.
"The people here are great, very friendly and like having a place on their doorstep that is accessible to everyone, from families to dogs we look after them all.
"One Canon has become what a modern pub in Edinburgh's capital should be. Friendly and attentive staff are our biggest selling point, and alongside a fairly good taste in music and passion for stocking local tasty drinks to compliment the killer pizza menu we feel we've built one of the best wee pubs in town."
Using his background in gin, Martin curated a close-knit menu of local favourites like Electric Spirit Co, Lind & Lime and Edinburgh Gin as well as having a rotating list of guest spirits.
And it also helped when it came to making an exciting menu of mixed drinks.
He added: "Our new cocktail menu which goes live this week has an absolutely stunning Highball with Porter's Tropical Old Tom and another with Arbikie Nàdar, and the ever popular Gis-mo, our Gin Cosmo, with Lind & Lime from Leith is a permanent fixture.
"It's not all just about Gin, I've hand-picked every single spirit on the bar to be great for mixing and come from talented producers."
And he's found that working in the bar game has reminded him just how he loves Scotland's, and the capital's, hospitality scene.
"The sector is globally famous and makes this city's drinking and dining scene truly exciting. Edinburgh is famously known as a big village and its hospitality scene is tight-knit and welcoming, as well as being so amazingly diverse, from world-beating cocktail bars and the many Michelin Star restaurants to the country pubs and grand hotels.
"But the thing that still amazes me to this day is the balance between the huge high-quality chains to small independent operators.
"Not saying the big guys aren't great for the capital but the fabric of such a historic city needs everyone one of those natives with the passion and determination to be brave to shout about what they and their teams put their lives work into."
When it comes to food, Martin wanted to try something different from what they'd done before, hitting upon the idea of creating an enticing menu packed with mouth-watering pizzas.
Martin said that originally, they carried on the Brandon's ethos of creating good food menus, trying out burgers, bao buns and weekend brunches which were all favourites with customers but added that they were eventually forced to change.
"The kitchen here is pretty small, which made it a constant challenge to get great food out without long waiting times when busy, the chefs capable of doing it, found it just too tough as there just wasn't enough space."
The pub owner found that he ended up having to work in the kitchen himself and pulling on his knowledge of having worked for big chain.
"Although I've spent a massive part of my career focused upon good bars and drinks, I had a secret weapon – pizza. At Uni I worked for a global pizza chain and ended up managing pizza units for them.
"I went into bars for a few years and then helped open and run another couple of pizza businesses later in my 20s, and just hadn't thought I'd be doing it again, but when the realisation struck that we could make incredible pizzas, I was excited.
"Within a few days, we'd figured out the requirements and launched our High Five campaign which asked for donations to help us pay for all the plates, equipment, oven etc we needed in return for discounts on pizzas once we were able to dish them out, win-win. And again a big thank you to any readers who supported that campaign."
Now a huge hit with bar fans, they sell an appetising range of pizzas including the best-selling Proper Pepperoni, with 21 spicy slices and extra cheese, and the Hot & Blue Chicken Pizza with blue cheese, hot sauce and succulent chicken.
He added: "We put a fair bit of effort into our specials too, and are currently lining up a series with some of the foodie spots and chefs in town, watch this space!"
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