Coopers' rest disturbed at last by risk takers bearing new barrels

There's cold, and then there's the deep marrow-withering chill of a pub that's been unoccupied for more than a decade.

- by Gaby Soutar

The Cooper's Rest, once a popular pub on Easter Road, has been shut for more than a decade. Now it's the subject of an ambitious plan by a classy crew to re-open it with community at its heart

Thankfully, I've wrapped up warm on my visit to The Cooper's Rest on Easter Road.I'm being shown round by James Snowdon of The Palmerston. He'll be opening this place, along with Lloyd Morse, also co-owner of the lauded Edinburgh restaurant, as well as Gordon McKenzie and Emma McIntosh, owners of Newbarns Brewery, who currently have a taproom on nearby Jane Street, sometime in April or May 2026.

I was desperate for a look behind the scenes. It seems so long since they announced the project, and I'm champing at the bit. The locals are too. Snowdon tells me that they're always asking him what's happening whenever he's in the building. When they were doing their final viewing with the landlord, before taking the property on, five or six people approached them.

"We thought it was a joke and that we were getting recorded on camera. They all said they couldn't wait for a pub to open here," he says.

No wonder. I pass this place regularly, and it's quite the landmark, with the big windows, corner location and faded pink and green sign, which they'll be retaining after it's been refreshed by local signwriter, Thomas Paints.

Apparently, it was McKenzie from Newbarns who found the location in early 2024, after the team had got together in 2022 to discuss the idea of opening a pub.

"It's exactly what we wanted," says Snowdon.