Meet Mhairi & Callum
The Long Table began on a freezing wet November evening in 2023. We had just moved into an old cooperage loft near Leith Shore, looking at an empty timber floor and feeling the quiet disconnection that so easily settles into modern city life.
Callum, a furniture maker by trade, salvaged twenty-four planks of 150-year-old pitch pine from a decommissioned dockland grain warehouse and planed them by hand into a single 28-foot communal table. Mhairi, having spent ten years in seasonal farm kitchens across the East Neuk of Fife and Edinburgh, put on a huge pot of root broth, baked three loaves of dark sourdough, and invited ten neighbours who had never spoken to one another.
By ten o'clock that night, people were sharing childhood stories, exchanging house keys to water plants, and planning joint vegetable patches. What was meant to be a one-off experiment became a monthly ritual.
Low Food Miles
Every vegetable, mushroom, and grain is sourced within a short drive or train ride from Edinburgh.
Honest Contribution
Suggested 3500 GBP covers ingredients and fuel. We keep spots accessible for everyone.
Phone-Light Table
Pockets hold devices; the table holds candle glow, wine glasses, and deep attention.
Mhairi MacLeod
Head Cook & BakerEast Neuk born • Fermentation enthusiast
“My grandmothers cooked from pantry larders and whatever arrived on the tide. Cooking for twenty-four people at one table feels like the most natural, human thing I can do.”
Callum Stewart
Host & CraftsmanLeith resident 14 yrs • Timber craftsman
“When people sit shoulder-to-shoulder on solid wood without partitions or menus with prices, the conversational armor drops immediately. That is the magic of the table.”