How Martin Wishart put Leith on the culinary map

As dance anthem 'You Don’t Know Me' by Armand van Helden topped the UK singles charts, something else nobody knew was Restaurant Martin Wishart was about to become a trailblazing and iconic venue in Scotland.

No diners turned up on the first night it opened. Only two came through the door on day two.

It was perhaps not a huge surprise. Leith was not exactly known as a hotspot for fine dining. This was only three years on from award-winning Danny Boyle film Trainspotting showcasing Leith as an economically deprived area of Edinburgh.

Let’s immerse ourselves in the world of early 1999, in which young Scot Martin Wishart opened up his first solo restaurant on the waterfront, which still stands to this day,

Britney Spears, Lenny Kravitz and Boyzone were in the charts, the euro currency had just been launched, the Harry Potter franchise was beginning to make its mark, construction of the London Eye was nearing completion, Jamie Oliver and Delia Smith were hits on our TV screens, Restaurant Gordon Ramsay had recently opened its doors and Sat Bains had just won the Roux Scholarship.

Surviving in the hospitality industry for any amount of time in 2025 is an achievement in itself. To be standing for 26 years, holding a Michelin star for 24 of those, is remarkable, even more so given how much Restaurant Martin Wishart has sparked change in Leith.

Leith in 1999: A Risk, A Dream, and an A4 Sign

“In 1999, Leith was very different,” Martin tells The Staff Canteen.

“There were a lot of characters around. There was a lot more movement on the streets. There were a lot less restaurants and pubs, but it always had that attraction for people to come down to from Edinburgh to be by the shore, sit outside at the local bars and have a drink.

“Finding property in the town centre was difficult. The cost of rent was super high. I just immediately fell in love with the area of Leith, the buildings around here, the surroundings, the architecture. I thought it was fantastic.

“When you start from a standing start without any PR behind you, with very little money behind you, you are watching every penny you spend.

“I spent most of my money on good pots and pans. The decor in the restaurant was minimalist.

“The difficulties are just getting your name out there and selling what you want to showcase on your menu to the general public and get them in through the door.

“I stuck an A4 sheet of paper on the window with ‘opening soon French restaurant Restaurant Martin Wishart’. That was it.

“The first night we did nobody, the second night we did two people.

“For the first two or three weeks we slowly started building up business. We had a very affordable menu. Three courses for lunch was £14.50 and we had an à la carte for £28.”

The Roux Connection That Sparked a Turning Point

Martin, an Edinburgh native, returned to the city in the late ‘90s with his now-wife Cecile, with some top-class experience behind him, working for the likes of Marc Meneau, Albert Roux, Michel Roux Sr, Marco Pierre White, John Burton-Race and Charlie Trotter, at restaurants such as Le Gavroche, The Waterside Inn and L’Ortolan.

“The real moment that the restaurant lifted and took off was when Albert Roux came,” Martin explains.

“He always kept in touch with his former employees. I'd just left working for him at The Grand in Amsterdam a year-and-a-half before.

“He knew I wanted to open a restaurant. So when I told him ‘I'm going to leave Amsterdam, I'm going to go back to Edinburgh, I'm going to be opening my own place’, he said to me, ‘I wish you the best of luck, when you do find your restaurant, give me a call, I'll come and visit you’.

“So that's what I did. I called him up. We arranged dates and he arrived six weeks after we opened.

“We put together a guestlist of journalists. Everybody wanted to come to meet the famous Mr Roux. He walked in through the front door, I was in my kitchen and he said to my wife, Cecile, ‘this is a lovely restaurant that reminds me of La Tante Claire’.

“Almost instantly we had loads of press coverage in all the major papers across the UK. When Albert came in and announced that everyone should come to the restaurant and try it, and the press wrote about that, that's when business really did take a boost.”

From Empty Tables to a Michelin Star

The restaurant would get an even bigger boost a couple of years later, in the shape of a Michelin star.

In 2001, there was no grand Michelin Guide ceremony or social media celebrations, with Martin not even aware he had been named in the little red book.

“It is a while ago, but I do remember it very clearly,” he recalls.

“I was in the kitchen with the two young chefs that I had working for me and at around 9am the restaurant phone went, which was just outside the door.

“I'd answered it because the staff hadn't arrived for the front of house. I picked up and it was a customer, a Mr Matthews, and he said to me, ‘I’m just phoning to congratulate you’. I said congratulate me on what Mr Matthews? He says ‘you’ve just been awarded a Michelin star’. He subscribed to the guide and as a subscriber you were given the book ahead of it being published.

“I was in a bit of a daze because the truth is I opened my restaurant not to gain stars. I wanted to be my own boss, cook my own food. But it was just a fantastic feeling.

“I went back into the kitchen. I don't even know if the two young lads that worked for me knew what Michelin stars were and that I told them we've just won a star.

“Then I phoned Cecile to let

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her know. We had a busy lunch. We didn't really celebrate, but it sunk in later on that week what we'd achieved. That is really when bookings went from a two-week waiting list to six months, to a year for a table for two on the weekend.

“Bookings all came in through the phone or faxes. We didn't have electronic booking systems back then. It was an old-fashioned diary that you'd write in.

“And they were coming from not only London, but from across Europe. Edinburgh's a city where we got a lot of visitors, especially in the summer. So people were booking up from the States. Faxes would come in from all over the place.”

Martin Wishart with Tom Kitchin and Roberta Hall-McCarron

Praise from Peers including Tom Kitchin and Roberta Hall-McCarron

Restaurant Martin Wishart was the first to receive a Michelin star in the city of Edinburgh. It is also the longest-standing Michelin-starred restaurant in Scotland.

In terms of records, Martin was also the first chef in Scotland to have Michelin stars in two separate venues, also awarded one at his former restaurant at Cameron House in Loch Lomond.

But Restaurant Martin Wishart is still standing, and thriving, hoping next year will mark 25 years as a Michelin-starred restaurant.

Now, it is far from the only restaurant in Edinburgh to be recognised by Michelin. In Leith itself, a stone’s throw from Restaurant Martin Wishart, both Heron by Sam Yorke and Tom Kitchin’s The Kitchin also hold a star. Other standouts in the area include Roberta Hall-McCarron’s The Little Chartroom, on the site of Martin’s former cookery school, Fingal, a boat hotel, and Dùthchas.

Asked how he feels to be a trailblazer for transforming Leith, Martin says: “I’ve never thought about that. How does it make me feel? Old! Opening back then and where we are now, I am extremely proud of the fact that the restaurant is still here 26 years later.

“To see so many other places open up around this area now, it's fantastic. I'm a big supporter of anywhere that opens that's new, making sure that I go in and say hello, welcome them to the area, wish them the best of luck.”

Martin Wishart transformed the dining scene in Leith, Edinburgh

Discussing Martin’s impact on the area, Tom Kitchin says: “I’ll always remember how welcoming Martin was. When I was a young lad thinking about opening a restaurant here in Leith, he opened his arms, his knowledge and his insight into the area.

“I'll never forget our first week when we opened he came through the back door with magnum of champagne, wishing us the best of luck. Class is class.

“It's unimaginable how Leith has changed over the years. But it all started with Restaurant Martin Wishart on the waterfront there.”

Roberta adds: “The impact that Martin Wishart's had on the Leith area is huge. Not only was he the first Michelin star in Leith, he was the first Michelin star in Edinburgh, which is absolutely huge.

“But also, I think to do that 26 years ago in an area like Leith, which has seen so much change, is really incredible.”

Alex McDonald of Dùthchas says: “What Martin has done with Restaurant Martin Wishart is he's shown that it can be done.

“Even in a tough area, you can really push and keep going and then reach the heights that Martin's reached.

“It's inspirational to see it. It's given people the inspiration to do it themselves.”

The food at Restaurant Martin Wishart

What Has Changed - and What Hasn’t - in 26 Years

Plenty has changed in Leith itself, but how about the restaurant and what Martin offers?

Now in his mid-50s, Martin has taken a step back from the day-to-day running of the kitchen, with long-term employee Joe Taggart running things as head chef.

Martin also prides himself on staff retention, with current restaurant manager Alessio De Faveri just the fourth person to hold that role in the restaurant’s history.

But how much has the actual food changed in that time?

“The basics haven't,” Martin insists.

“The stocks and the sauces are so rock solid. The techniques that I use for the garnish, the veg, the prep, all those techniques, we still use them.

“What has changed though is dishes develop. You make small tweaks to them.

“But having such an extensive repertoire of dishes, we're bringing back dishes that we were serving in ‘99 and they look fresh. They still look great on the plate.”

The team at Restaurant Martin Wishart

Discussing his restaurant’s longevity, Martin adds: “Being consistent is the key for success in a restaurant.

“Being consistent with your delivery of your menus, the ingredients you’re buying in, the training of your staff. Consistency is a key factor in holding the star for so long.”

He adds: “I think I'm most proud of the fact that what I set up to do, open a restaurant, has been a dream from the age of around 21 and still being here 26 years later, working with the fantastic staff that we've had.

“I'm just proud of the fact that we're still open after 26 years. Achieving a star was a highlight. Being awarded an honorary degree from the University of Edinburgh was another highlight.

“There are so many highlights and awards are great when they happen. They can really lift the team. They can bring business into the restaurant and they can surge you on to do new things.

“But as all that falls away in the past, you look at where you are now and still here after 26 years is something to be something to be proud of.”

The whole of Scotland and foodies across the globe certainly know who Martin Wishart is now.

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