Inverness delicatessen opens in Castle Street
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A new delicatessen has now opened in Inverness.
Based in Castle Street, Merchant's Delicatessen is offering a range of artisan food and drink.
The high-end store is a labour of love by the owners of the Walrus & Corkscrew, Sarah and Rob Steadman.
Mr Steadman said: "Merchant’s Delicatessen was an idea formed about 20 months ago not long after opening the wine bar, The Walrus & Corkscrew in April 2021, partly due to a number of visitors both local, UK and overseas asking us where we sourced our produce that we served from and where could they buy it.
"To which, the answer we discovered was not very easily, unless you had a car as the number of options to buy items were limited, with nothing in the town centre readily available. As well as plenty of our local customers regularly mentioning items that they had seen in Edinburgh, Glasgow and the likes, wishing they could get here.
"We did our research and when the unit in Castle Street came up we applied to take it on. Once the castle renovations opposite are complete, the footfall from tourism walking by should continue to grow. It’s positioning also allows a large local residential population to pop in to buy items without needing the car."
The delicatessen is offering a wide range of products produced and sourced from the Highlands and further afield in Scotland, Italy, Spain and France.
He added: "We are lucky enough to have one of the greatest natural larders on our doorstep something that is recognised by many visitors who want to try as much as possible. As with the wine bar we will listen to our customers and if certain items we don’t stock now regularly crop up in requests we will get them in later.
"The driving force behind this project has been Sarah, previously a commercial lawyer, who for many years has come up with ideas for other projects, only for someone else to get in before, hence once the decision was made speed was of the essence, though not always easy when dealing with certain parties!
"Some might think we are mad to open just before Christmas but then again they thought we were mad opening a wine bar the weekend the UK came out of major lockdown! We would like to thank all those customers who have popped in and supported us since the soft opening last Saturday.
"It’s been a bit of a helter skelter ride over the last few months to open in time with a few minor technicalities enough to cause delays, not through the want of trying!
"We should send a big thanks tour our Trades guys who we have worked with on all our projects as without them this project wouldn’t have been realised: Standfast Joinery; Simpson & Moir Electrical; Matthew Olivant Decorator, Highland Carpets and Flooring; and Mathesons Plumbing."
