Extract from An Edinburgh Companion.

It is easy to hurry past this modest shopfront, unaware that within is Scotland's oldest Italian deli, a huge, high-ceilinged space stacked to the rafters with an abundance of cheese, charcuterie, pasta and wine from the old country and elsewhere. Way at the back is a bookshop and cafe that's open all day serving dishes made from their own produce - porridge with set honey, though hardly Italian, is a particular treat on a blustery day.

Valvona & Crolla, 19 Elm Row, EH7 4AA
Tel: 0131 556 6066
Mon-Thu: 8.30am-6pm; Fri-Sat: 8am-6.30pm; Sun: 10am-5pm