Brown’s of Leith launches in Edinburgh with new food, drink, and creative spaces

From left: Michele Civiera, Ewen Hutchison, Joseph Radford and Gunnar Groves-Raines. Credit: Richard Gaston

A unique collaborative space for food, drink and the arts - Brown’s of Leith - will launch in Edinburgh on 27th November with four new food and drink businesses.

Representing a major step in the regeneration of the area, Brown’s of Leith will open within the historic George Brown & Sons Engineering Works on The Shore. The development comes after the engineering firm vacated the building last year, when the management of the building was taken on by the design hub Custom Lane, under the Creative Direction of Gunnar Groves-Raines.

The first phase of the project will see the following high-profile food and drinks businesses opening: 

Haze – From the makers of Timberyard and Montrose, this is an all-day venue (open 8am - 8pm) designed to blur the lines between morning coffee and evening wine. Haze will serve a carefully curated menu of small plates, inspired by some of Europe’s best wine bars, featuring cheese, cured meats and tinned fish, alongside wines, spirits, soft drinks and speciality coffee.

Shuck Bar – a new seafood bar celebrating the best of Scottish produce, created by the celebrated Portobello seafood shack, ShrimpWreck. The new outlet promises a more refined menu, whilst keeping the spirit of its street food origins. 

Civerino’s – the Edinburgh-born, NYC-style pizza brand brings a new chapter to Leith with a menu dedicated to East Coast American–style pizza. 

Woven – a blending studio that sources single malt and grain whiskies from across the world, and brings them together through craft and curiosity. Providing opportunities for visitors to get involved themselves, Woven redefines what blended whisky can be: borderless, inclusive and unapologetically flavour-led. 

A new bakery and workshop are also being developed.

In the future, Brown’s of Leith will also be home to a community of artists and architects. A programme of events, exhibitions and artists’ residencies will be announced after the launch.

As an extension to the wider Custom Lane ecosystem, Brown’s of Leith is designed to act as a catalyst for creativity and will include a system of shared knowledge and mentorship for less-established designers, makers and creative professionals. Custom Lane is a project created by the award winning architecture and design studio GRAS.

Gunnar Groves-Raines said:

“Custom Lane has evolved into a truly enriching community of designers and makers but we’ve always looked over The Water of Leith towards the iconic blue doors of the George Brown & Sons building. Breathing new life into this building is a truly exciting opportunity to build upon our vision, celebrate our Leith home, and develop a productive and energising space both for visitors and the makers based there.

“The space will evolve but by launching with these four outstanding businesses, we’re putting the emphasis on conversation and collaboration - food and drink is the perfect way to bring people together.

As a former engineering works, the building has been home to over a century of making, from boats to bicycles, and we are proud to continue that tradition.”

Overlooking The Water of Leith, the building was home for 130 years to George Brown & Sons, engineers and metal workers. The family business relocated to East Lothian in 2024. The existing space retains period industrial architecture across three generous floors. Keep up to date with the latest developments at Brown’s of Leith at customlane.co or www.instagram.com/browns.leith.

Brown’s of Leith: 4-6 Shore, Leith, Edinburgh