World’s best new bakery introduces rationing because of demand
A Scottish bakery named as the world’s best by French Guide La Liste has had to limit the supply to customers due to high demand following an explosion of the profile of the business on social media.
Lannan Bakery owner Darcie Maher explained that due to increased demand, customers would be limited to how many pastries of different types they can buy, and were also being asked not to take pictures of staff.
In a social media update from the Stockbridge eatery in Edinburgh, she said: “An update from us — please read! We’re putting a limit of two of each pastry per customer. “This is something I’ve tried to avoid since we opened, but it’s now a necessary step to ensure as many of you as possible are able to try our pastries.
“We advise you arrive between 7.30-9.00am to purchase viennoiserie. Cakes and custard slice come out around 9.30am, sandwiches and pala romana come out around 11-11.30am.
“We’d like to kindly ask that you avoid taking photographs of us at work, that includes both front and back of house. We’re so happy that you enjoy the bakery as much as we do, and we love seeing all your photographs but please don’t photograph us while we’re working, it’s a distraction and it makes us uncomfortable.
“Finally, please try to stick to six people in the shop at a time, we’re only small! The fuller the shop, the less you can see what’s on the counter and valuable things are getting broken by backpacks etc.
“We’re a small bakery, with a small team and we’re working at maximum capacity everyday.”
In early June, Lannan was awarded Pastry Opening of the Year Award from La Liste’s Pastry Awards 2024. La Liste is a global guide to the best restaurants and hotels, and is made up based on the compilation of thousands of publications, hundreds of guidebooks, and millions of online reviews to give users an overview of the world's best restaurants and hotels.
Ms Maher said of the accolade: “As a Scottish pastry chef, who specialises in French viennoiserie, collecting this award at Les jardins des Invalides in Paris was an honour.”