New food spot moves into Edinburgh bakery serving up vegan doner kebabs from the spit
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A new food stop has opened its doors in collaboration with a much loved bakery near the Meadows offering spit cooked vegan doner.
Nico Barcella, who has also operated vegan ice cream business Soft Serve Cartel for the last two years, has teamed up with Considerit to bring the Unity Doner vegan kebab to the bakery based in Sciennes near The Meadows.
He hopes it will provide a complimentary offering to the sweet treats offered by Considerit.
He said: “It was just about taking my opportunistic mindset, if you like, and saying there's this kebab opportunity. If I can get people that will come in and run that side, put it over there and just work it together. At the end of the day the savoury food is there to compliment this.
“They already have drinks, soft drinks, hot drinks etc. We’re not looking at infringing on any of that, it's literally just to complement what they already do.”
Nico described the vegan kebab, which is made from soy and seasoning, as a different option for those who might want to try vegan food.
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He said: “I think what’s interesting about it is that although its vegan, it’s just a meat free option it’s going to fit into so many people’s palates for people who are interested in trying new things, because flavour-wise it’s almost identical and texture wise, in my opinion, its better.”
Nico said that what sets Unity Doner apart is the ability to cook it on a spit, providing a “spectacle” for customers.
He said: “You can get a lot of vegan kebab meats or vegetarian kebab meats around the UK, but nothing on the spit like that. I think that's the difference. Those things come pre-shaved, and as a result of that, it's already cooked. You've lost a lot of the oils but when you cook this, it cooks just like a normal doner.”
The collaboration was a natural fit according to Nico, who said he shares “crazy ideas” with Mairi Taylor of Considerit, making the collaboration a match made in heaven. And for Mairi it is that working together that is at the heart of the project.
She said: “We’re in a very artistic, very vegan-friendly area, so if we can start this then we can build on this with other people and businesses. For me it’s community, community, community.”
The sentiment was echoed by Nico, who said he hopes that the story could be one that is a blueprint for other businesses.
He said: “I feel the beauty in this story is that it’s not hard to get people to come together. And if people would just do this more often, believe in each other a bit more, business wouldn’t be as hard.”