Across café venues, one of the clearest trends this season is the return of comfort food refined with a sustainable edge. Hearty venison and whisky pies sit alongside vegetarian haggis and leek pies on the hot counter, while roast squash and beetroot lasagne is layered with goat’s cheese for an elevated take on a classic.
At Colonnades at the Signet Library, indulgence takes a more refined form – from venison with St. Giles stout and pommes duchesse, to a delicate wild mushroom Choux. And at Tatha Bar & Kitchen, afternoon tea treats bring seasonal comfort into patisserie, with a Persian twist inspired by V&A Dundee’s current ‘Garden Futures’ exhibition – think candied peel and cardamom scones and kataifi wrapped marinated paneer.
These formats also open the door to creative, waste-conscious cooking. Yesterday’s pie filling might return as a hearty topping for loaded potatoes at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, while surplus vegetables are given new life in vibrant hummus, dips or sandwich fillings.
Diners are increasingly seeking menus that put plants on equal footing with meat. Within Heritage Portfolio’s autumn and winter events menu, vegetables from celeriac to pumpkin, kale and kohlrabi are dressed up into hero dishes that are not treated as alternatives but showstoppers in their own right.
Dishes like wild mushroom and leek stuffed cabbage with celeriac purée and truffle kale, or a roast squash steak with chervil mash prove that vegetable-led cooking can deliver just as much impact as traditional centrepieces.
Across cafés, roasted root vegetables and seasonal salads celebrate the richness of autumn, from roasted pumpkin with orange tahini dressing to warming spiced carrot and lentil soup. Much of this produce is harvested just steps away, in the kitchen garden at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, making use of the autumnal bounty grown onsite from apples, pears and quince to chillies, leeks and rocket.
In Heritage Portfolio’s cafés, there are no fixed menus. Instead, counters evolve daily, allowing chefs to respond directly to what’s fresh, local and available. This flexibility not only minimises food waste but also keeps the experience exciting for guests, who return time and again knowing there’s always something new to discover.
For weddings, conferences and celebrations, the new Autumn/Winter Collection captures the same ethos at scale. Menus spotlight scratch cooking and Scottish provenance through refined dining, using the same ingredients in creative new applications. Highlights include starters like a salt-baked pumpkin croquette with romesco and garlic emulsion, and mains from slow-cooked beef cheek pithivier with truffle jus to roast loin of Highland venison with candied red cabbage.
For receptions, inventive canapés make the most of seasonal ingredients: pumpkin and feta arancini, tandoori cauliflower pakora, and spiced monkfish cheek pakora with apple and elderflower raita. Sweet bites include apple mallow pops with cinnamon popcorn crumble, nodding directly to autumn’s harvest.
Lizzie Arber, Innovation & Development Chef, says: “Autumn and winter give us such a rich palette of natural flavours to work with. We lean into scratch cooking, roasting vegetables to bring out natural sugars, and using every part of the ingredient – turning off-cuts into a hearty soup or working imperfect fruit into chutneys and desserts. It means we can create food that is seasonal and full of flavour while reducing our waste at the same time.”
The direction of travel is clear. Guests want food that feels personal, rooted in its place and respectful of its ingredients. Event organisers want assurance that sustainability isn’t being bolted on as an afterthought, but embedded in the menu from the start.
Heritage Portfolio is positioning itself at the forefront of that movement, shaping trends for the coming seasons through menus that draw from and respect its surrounding environment. In doing so, it is proving that Scottish hospitality can set the standard for seasonal, sustainable dining at every scale.
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Learn MoreCelebrate the season with menus bursting with the fresh flavours of summer. From vibrant vegetables and fragrant herbs to freshly caught seafood, seasonal berries and exceptional meats, each dish is thoughtfully crafted to showcase the very best ingredients at their peak.
Available across our venues, discover bright, seasonal flavours, creative cooking and memorable dining experiences throughout the summer months.
