Edinburgh cafes: Popular vegan cafe Plant Bae in Easter Road announces it has closed

Edinburgh cafes: Popular vegan cafe Plant Bae in Easter Road announces it has closed

A popular vegan cafe in Edinburgh’s Easter Road has announced its closure.

Plant Bae, which sold sandwiches, toasties and brunch items like granola and French toast, as well as lots of baked goods, including pastries and vegan brownies, was trading well. But writing on Facebook, owner Lewis blamed issues with the lease, lack of space and long hours for the decision to shut.

He posted: “Plant Bae has been amazing, i love doing pastry and it’s just got busier and busier. The first week in January was one of our busiest inc August.

“So why close? 3 reasons: 1) our lease was tied up with Grams which was getting closed down which = new lease needed quicker than anticipated. 2) We never planned on doing pastry and literally ran out of space months ago 3) working 12 hours a day in a basement is sh*t for your health.

“The unit is great overall and I can assure you we will miss our customers more than you’ll miss us, if the unit was bigger maybe we’d still be here. Leithers are the best, fact.

“Big thanks to my staff, especially those that have been with me for years. Only 4 of us last couple months but good staff make it feel easy.”

And he made clear he wasn’t going to disappear. He wrote: “What’s next? We have a new concept we’d like to do (still pastry). I’m pretty good at doing things on a budget (built plant bae + equipment for the price of some people’s coffee machines) but we’re looking for investment/partner to try make it everything we want without being too restrained.”