Edinburgh restaurants: TV chef Julie Lin bringing quirky pop-up restaurant with a twist to St James Quarter

Julie is coming to the Capital hoping to change our perceptions of tinned food

TV chef Julie Lin is coming to Edinburgh to open a quirky pop-up restaurant with a twist – everything on the menu is made from tinned food.

Inspired by new research which shows that almost half (48%) of people in Edinburgh and the Lothians have concerns about tinned food, Julie has teamed up with Zero Waste Scotland to create a radical new restaurant concept called ‘Julie’s Can-teen’.

Julie’s Can-teen will appear at St James Quarter on Tuesday (March 28), offering diners a menu of dishes all made from tinned food.

TV chef Julie Lin is coming to Edinburgh to open a quirky pop-up restaurant with a twist – everything on the menu is made from tinned food.

Julie is on a mission to change perceptions of tinned food – encouraging the city of Edinburgh to take a fresh look at canned food for its budget-friendly and environmental benefits.

Easy to make, nutritious and wonderfully full of flavour, Julie’s recipes riff on the Asian-inspired cooking she’s renowned for, with three must-try, delicious dishes available at the Can-teen: Honey & soy glazed bao buns with pineapple & pickled cucumber, Thai-inspired fishcakes with a charred apricot sriracha dip, and Saag curry with chickpeas, spinach and paratha.

What’s more, at Julie’s Can-teen there really is such a thing as a free lunch, with Edinburgh residents invited to head along and pick up lunch on the house; running first come, first served from 12pm-4pm.

An exclusive dining experience will be available for up to four diners within the Can-teen itself, with lunch personally served by Julie; who will also be on hand to dish up plenty of hints and tips on the joys of cooking with tinned food.

Speaking about the pop-up Can-teen tour, Julie said: “Tins are an unsung ‘double whammy’ of a hero in any kitchen – helping us to keep our rising food bills lower and reducing the amount of food we buy that goes off and gets thrown away, which is a major driver of climate change.

“Zero Waste Scotland’s research shows that nearly a fifth (16%) of people in Edinburgh and the Lothians think of tinned food as a ‘last resort’. That’s why my trusty Can-teen and I are taking to the road to encourage people to give tins a chance and taste for themselves how easy it is to make delicious meals that needn’t cost the earth, or the planet.

“What’s even more amazing is that tins are infinitely recyclable, meaning they can be made into other tins again and again, just by recycling them from the kerbside; which is a win-win (or rather tin-tin) for us and our environment.”