Edinburgh restaurants: Liberté Café-Bar & Brasserie opens at Apex Waterloo Place Hotel

Liberté Café-Bar & Brasserie and Bar 1819, the new culinary venue located at Apex Waterloo Place Hotel in the heart of Edinburgh’s new town, opened its doors today (November 28).

The European brasserie, which celebrates authentic Scottish produce, is the centre piece of a close to £2 million ground floor renovation of Apex Waterloo Place, owned by Apex Hotels.

Located on Waterloo Place just off the east end of Princes Street, Liberté contains a stylish bar with a brasserie restaurant and private dining area - La Belle. The venue is designed to embrace style as well as quality.

With interior design input from ISA, one of Edinburgh’s leading architectural and design firms, the new venue embraces European style with Georgian interiors inspired by the Palm Courts of the 1800s.

The new restaurant opened its doors today (Thursday, 28 November). | Supplied

And the venue has benefited from input from two well-respected hospitality specialists in Stuart McCluskey, former co-owner of the Bon Vivant, and Ian McLaren - former Bacardi digital director and owner of drink marketing consultancy Neoteric Spirit.

Stuart said: “It has been exciting to work with the team at Apex. Their enthusiasm for delivering this project has been infectious. Ian, Will and I have relished developing a beverage programme fit for such a beautiful setting, focusing on working with quality products and local suppliers.”

Bar 1819 is an elegant and highly desirable cocktail bar and lounge set within Liberté, with an impressive range of drinks and signature cocktails curated by Stuart and Ian, each potent with big flavours to sip and savour.

Liberté and 1819’s stunning new menus showcase the very best from Scotland’s larder, using European influences and modern cooking techniques. Liberté launches with day to night menus packed with locally sourced ingredients hand-picked for quality and provenance.

Guests can dine from dawn to dusk thanks to morning pastries and a range of tasty snacks, shares and nibbles in the restaurant - in addition to its brasserie menu.