Celebrated Scottish chef Tomás Gormley has unveiled the Cardinal Kitchen Garden, a new regenerative smallholding on the outskirts of Edinburgh created in collaboration with Bramblewood Farm.
Located in Pathhead, Midlothian, Bramblewood Farm is a family-run operation committed to regenerative agriculture and supporting its local community. The new kitchen garden will see Gormley and his team working closely with farm owner Nick Holmes, strengthening the link between Cardinal’s kitchen and the land that supplies it.
The first crops to be grown at the site include tomatoes, courgettes, beetroot, salad leaves, alongside a wide range of herbs and edible flowers. These ingredients will be transported directly from garden to kitchen, with the ambition that, over time, the majority of fresh produce used at Cardinal will be sourced from the smallholding.
Sustainability sits at the core of the project. The Cardinal Kitchen Garden will operate with a low-waste ethos, adopting a circular approach to food production. Organic waste from the restaurant that cannot be reused will be composted and returned to the soil, helping to nourish future crops and close the loop between kitchen and garden.
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Speaking about the launch, Tomás Gormley said: “We’re looking forward to bringing these ingredients into every part of our menu, working with Nick and the team to work with the land and become an important cog in the wider farm network. Restaurants aren’t inherently sustainable operations, so we’ll be looking harder at how we can cut waste at the restaurant in a way that benefits both us and the garden.”
The launch of the kitchen garden follows the introduction of Cardinal’s new Market Menu, a vegetable-led three-course offering designed to showcase the produce grown on-site. Priced at £25, the Market Menu is available at lunchtime on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, offering diners a closer connection to the ingredients on their plate.
