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On Tuesday night, the 5pm Dining blog pulled on its increasingly tight dinner jacket and toddled along to the premiere of Sunshine on Leith.
A feelgood, family-friendly hit, the project started life as a musical which made its debut at Dundee Rep in 2007. It proved hugely successful.
Now a film directed by Dexter Fletcher, Sunshine on Leith uses the songs of The Proclaimers to tell the story of Ally and Davy, two soldiers returning to Leith after a tour of Afghanistan.
It’s a tale of love being lost and found and there are plenty of people who can do a better job than me of giving it a film review.
VisitScotland have a good blog on it here. It includes a handy map showing where most of the key scenes were shot. The film goes on general release on Friday 4th October.
Edinburgh gorgeous
A large part of the attraction for anyone familiar with Edinburgh is seeing the city on celluloid. Amazingly, many would say miraculously, the sun shone during much of the filming and the capital looks gorgeous.
Obviously, much of the action is set in and around Leith and there are plenty of cameos from some of the port’s best known bars and restaurants.
Both Nobles and the ever colourful Port of Leith make an early appearance while The Granary bar shows up a little later on.
The Italian restaurants of Hanover Street take a brief blink-and-you-will-miss-it role while the Grassmarket also shows up.
Sky bar vista
One of the most stunning vistas is shot from the penthouse at the Point Hotel. The blog has flagged up the monthly Sky Bar meets ups which take place there on a few occasions and, on the ground floor, their recently refurbed Bread Street Brasserie is well worth a visit, especially if you are heading on to one of the nearby cinemas or concert halls.
Glasgow also gets a look in. At one point, two of the cast jump in a taxi and ask to be driven to Morningside. In real life, the cabbie would have been rubbing his hands as he picks up the fare just outside Metropolitan in Glasgow’s Merchant City.
If you wanted to eat your way around many of the Edinburgh locations which feature in Sunshine on Leith then you might want to look at 5pm Dining’s latest Edinburgh newsletter.
Among others, it has great offers on meals at Mintleaf and The Granary in Leith as well as Biddy’s on the Grassmarket.