Red Sugar Cafe

I am working here in Edinburgh, on my way to see my parents up in Aberdeenshire. Yesterday I decided to go and visit the Red Sugar Café, which opened earlier in the year. This is one place I have wanted to visit all year. I walked in scanning the products on display and their menu on the wall, when I was approached by one of the co-founders of Red Sugar, Steve Montgomery. Now, I’m 99% sure it was Steve Montgomery, I got so wrapped up in what he was saying to me, I forgot to ask. D'oh!

This guy obviously knows his stuff. He knew all the health benefits of each ingredient, where it came from, the environmental and Fair Trade ethics. What's more impressive, he has done this off his own back. What I mean by this, he didn’t take any raw food classes to come up with the cakes and smoothies he sells in his café. It has all been done down to research, motivation, passion and determination. He also sells some of the hard to get ingredients, which are pretty much only available over the Internet.

You can either sit inside the minimalist thoughtfully designed café or take-away your food that are served into recyclable corn-starched cardboard boxes. The café was designed by Steve himself (a trained architect) using locally sourced, recycled materials and LED lighting. Every little detail has been thought of and he seems to have a passion to improve this further in time.

I decided to sit in and ordered the Skin Pleaser smoothie (recommended by Steve) and a blueberry cake, whilst I read a booklet created by the team giving nutritional facts about the ingredients used in the café. My blueberry cake and smoothie were served in ‘gourmet’ style and wow, did it taste good. My socks were literally knocked off.

I really truly hope this café becomes a great success. We need to see more of this in this country and I hope they are able to extend in the future. If you are visiting or living in Edinburgh, I highly recommend you to check this place out. The food is a little pricey but these ingredients are organic, raw and some are not so easily available in this country. If you are new to raw, these cakes taste totally different to your standard cakes, much more healthier and worth every penny.

Steve and the team are extending their menu to include savoury items such as breads and burgers in two weeks time. I was lucky enough to taste a sample of one of their tasty flat breads. I can’t wait to see this develop further.

I wish the Red Sugar team much success and I hope to be visiting again soon.

www.red-sugar.co.uk