The Edinburgh Reporter October 2021

16 FOOD AND DRINK
Time to stop and
smell the coffee!
CROSSWORD
Compiled by David Albury
Hata owners,
Agata Rudzka and
Andrew Rennie
Opening a café during the pandemic was brave, but Hata owners
say it has been a promising start at Canonmills location
By CHARLIE ELLIS
OPENED AT the end of 2020, this
little coffee shop sits at a busy junction
in an increasingly lively area.
The name Hata derives from the
Polish word chata which has
connotations of homeliness. Run by
Andrew Rennie and Agata Rudzka,
the café was inspired by a 10 month
trip they took together in 2019. They
had for some time wanted to run their
own business and took inspiration
from the food and drink they
discovered on their journey.
As Andrew and Agata said: “We just
wanted to take on a challenge and to
see it through”. They see the café as a
continuation of their travels –
“developing our idea and to see where
it takes us – hopefully enough people
will like what we are doing to enjoy
the journey with us”.
After some time trying to find the
right location, they both had a gut
feeling that this was the right spot. The
couple said: “We both knew as soon as
we saw this one, that it was the one.
We spoke to other businesses in the
area and got a really good feeling for it
and what was on offer already. We felt
that we wanted to be part of that. With
places such as the Bearded Baker,
Marshmallow Lady and One
Canonmills nearby, it’s clearly a
rapidly developing area for food
and coffee.“
They use coffee beans by Kinross
based Unorthodox Roasters. They
chose Unorthodox after a blind tasting
of beans from eight different roasteries
– mainly local ones. They have since
built up a good relationship with the
coffee roasters.
They said: “It all came down to taste
really and we really liked the two
owners of Unorthodox who run it and
have become great friends. The main
coffee that we use in their espresso is
the Wee Stoater (from Fazenda
Cachoeira in the Minas Gerais region
of Brazil), which has chocolate,
caramel and hazelnut notes. Hata also
sell a range of beans and ground coffee
by Unorthodox. In addition, we’ve
recently started to stock ceramics
from the Dutch brand HK Living.“
Their simple food offering includes
porridge with a range of
accompaniments – honey, banana or
home-made berry compote or their
‘goawesome’ porridge; specials with
more extravagant home-made
toppings, home-made granola
with yogurt and berry compote,
home-made soups and weekly
special sandwiches, with one hot
and two deli sandwich specials
available every week. Bakery includes
home-made cakes, brownies and
biscuits – including gluten free and
vegan options.
Hata’s close proximity to King
George V Park and walking routes
such as the Water of Leith Walkway
have helped it become a popular
takeaway. When the basement area is
fully renovated, Hata will have seating
capacity for 16.
Andrew and Agata managed to
remain busy throughout the lockdown
period, which they had prepared
for. They said: “It was always part of
the business plan that we would
possibly have to close or reduce to
takeaway only.”
The regular, long weekend queues
suggest that they are already a hit with
Canonmills residents.
Hata 5 Rodney St, Edinburgh EH7 4EA
ACROSS
1 Curved edible nut (6)
4 Extremely foul smelling or
tasting (6)
9 Lowest female singing voice (4)
10 Clumsy, awkward (4-6)
11 Building where films are
shown (6)
12 Lover from long ago (3,5)
13 Unimportant or
insignificant (5-4)
15 Raucous, very noisy (4)
16 Tie or fasten tightly (4)
17 A favourable circumstance or
score in tennis (9)
21 Supporter of the monarchy (8)
22 Son of one’s brother or sister (6)
24 Musical groups that use oil
drums etc (5,5)
25 Jump (4)
26 Light-sensitive tissue in
the eye (6)
27 Fight between two armies (6)
DOWN
1 Silvery-white element found in
bones and teeth (7)
2 Push violently (5)
3 Charm, delight (7)
5 Greenfly (6)
6 Vessel used on artificial
waterways (5-4)
7 Experienced thoughts or images
while asleep (7)
8 Providing a place for people
to stay (13)
14 Someone who manages a
large estate (4-5)
16 Herring that has been salted in
brine and partially smoked (7)
18 Loss of memory (7)
19 Explosive device, usually thrown
by hand (7)
20 Small ape with long arms (6)
23 Person who flies an aircraft (5)
ANSWERS
Across: 1 Cashew, 4 Rancid, 9 Alto, 10 Cack-handed, 11 Cinema, 12 Old flame, 13 Small-time, 15
Loud, 16 Bind, 17 Advantage, 21 Royalist, 22 Nephew, 24 Steel bands, 25 Leap, 26 Retina, 27 Battle
Down: 1 Calcium, 2 Shove, 3 Enchant, 5 Aphids, 6 Canal-boat, 7 Dreamed, 8 Accommodating, 14
Land-agent, 16 Bloater, 18 Amnesia, 19 Grenade, 20 Gibbon, 23 Pilot
Hopefully
enough people
will like what
we are doing
to enjoy the
journey with us
Pineapple, mango
purée, banana,
toasted coconut,
pistachios and
fresh blueberries
Coffee beans by
Kinross based
Unorthodox
Roasters