We always thought the concept of brunch was incredible. There are a few really good ones in Edinburgh, but we felt we could do something that really knocked it out the park conceptually.

Our first attempt was right at the beginning of the street food days, through a collaboration with Company Bakery. Financially, it was not successful, but Cam created some incredibly tasty dishes, and the few customers who came to the pop-up responded so warmly. I remember feeling really proud of it.

Brunch was something I had always wanted to introduce at the restaurant. Understandably, though, the kitchen team were apprehensive. We were already trying to manage several different offerings, which meant a huge amount of prep, organisation and service pressure at a time when staffing was limited, money was tight, and storage space was scarce.

I think the chefs also found the idea of brunch, or breakfast service more generally, quite tedious. It is a very particular kind of service, and not necessarily one they were enthusiastic about taking on. From what I remember, I kept returning to the idea because I genuinely believed it had potential. My thinking was that if brunch brought more customers through the door, it could increase income, allow us to bring in more chefs, and help relieve pressure across the other areas of the business.

Another reason for introducing brunch was to give the front of house team more hours. At that point, we were really struggling with daytime bookings. We had tried weekday lunches before, and we had worked hard to make them viable, but eventually we had to accept that they were not busy enough. Because of that, we moved to opening five days a week, closing on Mondays and Tuesdays. During the week, we only opened in the evenings which meant it was hard to hire full-time staff.

The front of house team would come in at around four o’clock to clean, set up, and prepare for dinner service. Towards the end, as we were trying to reduce costs even further, we limited our service times from 5–10pm to 6–9pm. That cut another two hours of staffing costs each day, which mattered because we simply could not afford to have the team in when there was not enough trade to sustain it.

We really wanted to offer a lunch service and did not want to cut Saturday lunch, but we were making a loss. Brunch offered the possibility of a daytime menu that might actually work. It had the potential to become popular, bring in more customers, and give the front of house team more hours. Of course, that would also have meant split shifts, which are difficult and far from ideal, but at least it would have given the team more work and more consistency.

The chefs on the other hand were already working long days, and it is really important for health and wellbeing that people have proper time off. That meant, as owners, we filled the gaps ourselves. The team did everything they possibly could to try and help make the business successful. It was really difficult for everyone.

Eventually, the kitchen team graciously agreed to give it a go, but it took a long time to get there. There were a lot of conversations, a lot of thought, and a considerable amount of work involved in bringing the menu together. Whatever apprehension there had been beforehand, they really did do a brilliant job. The food was excellent, and they worked incredibly hard to make it happen. Brunch was not an easy service to add. It meant more prep, more pressure, more organisation, and then the huge task of clearing everything down afterwards before resetting the kitchen for dinner service. That part was a lot. It really was a lot.

The menu itself was created by Cam, with input from Stuart, our Head Chef and myself. The FOH really came together when I set a cocktail creation challenge. I think we all really enjoyed working on it in the end. We did a full tasting for the staff, and I remember how much they loved the dishes. There was a real excitement around it. Pablo came in and did a brilliant job getting both photo and video footage for marketing.

There was also an element of knowing how to market it. Brunch is indulgent and well, sex sells. We thought of the idea of fried eggs instead of boobs (I think this was Cam actually) and this is what I came up with. The images for the main artwork were a reworked interpretation rather than an original shoot. I would have liked to have photographed everything properly myself, but we were really limited by time. Even so, I enjoyed pulling the design together.

When brunch launched, it began to build. It was not immediately huge, but it was popular, and there was a clear difference between the Saturday lunches we had been doing before and the brunch service we introduced. You could feel it starting to gain momentum, and word seemed to be getting out.

Anyway, that was Junk does brunch - born from both creativity and necessity. It was also god damn tasty.

— Jade