Valvona & Crolla
Scotland's oldest wine merchant has been open in the same Elm Row building since 1934, and it holds a Royal Warrant from the late Queen.1
Why go
The Contini family run it, and the business is a delicatessen and wine merchant first, with a caffe restaurant at the back of the shop.1 What comes in comes in direct: The List's deli round-up names Amalfi lemons, baby globe artichokes, cime di rapa, gorgonzola and the sweetest tomatoes among shelves of olive oil, wine and pasta arriving from Italy.3
What locals & experts say
- Harden's reporters, on the arrangement and the bill:
Authentic Italian cooking at the back of a glorious deli
is the recipe behind the caffe attached to thisvery long-established Edinburgh favourite
, established 1934,perhaps a bit out of the way
but theideal spot for a lunch and browse round the groaning shelves
, with agood value menu
.2 Edited survey quotes rather than one critic's verdict.
Good to know
- Hours: nobody publishes them, so check before you go.
- Getting there: 19 Elm Row, at the top of Leith Walk.
- Hygiene: Food Hygiene Information Scheme Pass, inspected 11 September 2023, FHRSID 663128. Thirty-five months old, well past the eighteen-month bound, so it is disclosed with its age.4
- Not to be confused: Jolly Restaurant at 9, Kul Coffee at 15 and Star Kebab Pizza House at 16 hold their own Improvement Required ratings on the same postcode. Different operators, different buildings.
Verdict
should-visit — Scotland's oldest delicatessen and wine merchant, open in the same Elm Row premises since 1934, run by the Contini family and holding a Royal Warrant from the late Queen. The structure is the thing to understand before you go: the deli is the front of the building and the caffe sits at the back of it, which is why Harden's reporters describe authentic Italian cooking behind a glorious deli rather than a restaurant with a shop attached. The List's list of what actually lands on the shelves, direct from Italy, is the argument for going with a bag rather than just a booking. What holds it below must-visit here is a hygiene pass nearly three years old and the fact that the accolade everyone repeats comes from a body this file does not accept.