'We order six tonnes of haggis a year': how the Macbeth defined a decade of Deeney's
Plus: Forest Gate's chocolate guru Jennifer Earle, Oishi Don review and the all-new Seven Sisters Market
Carol Deeney grew up above her mum’s cafe in the village of Fochabers, north-east Scotland. “She didn’t actually do a haggis toastie, but she was very well known for toasties generally. Back then they’d cost a pound — with a drink too.”
We’re chatting at the counter of Carol’s own eponymous spot on Leyton High Road, talking about the mid-90s, when she and her two best friends were very young Saturday girls. “As we lived above the cafe, the kitchen was where we made homemade soup, sandwiches, quiches and Sunday lunches.” They even served the odd cappuccino. “That was quite exotic for our part of the world,” she adds, with a laugh.
Despite studying business in Glasgow and moving to London to work in advertising in the late noughties, she missed “the buzz of the kitchen” — not to mention an upbringing immersed in hospitality. “I realised I had pride in my culture. I grew up in a Scottish cafe. I played the fiddle in a fiddle band. I was a highland dancer, wearing the kilts, going to Highland Games to perform.”
And so she came upon her winning idea: that the fledgling food business she was dreaming up would need a Scottish flavour.
It was now 2012. “Streetfood had just started to kick off,” Carol says. “There was the newly launched KERB, and I was local to Broadway Market and Chatsworth Road.”
With advice from friends, she started to understand that “the street food style is about bringing your food and your culture to others.” While there weren’t many toastie options — “one of the reasons I chose it,” she says — she’s keen to acknowledge the influence of legendary toastie titans Kappacasein in Borough Market. “But the Scottish branding only developed when I added the haggis.”
And so the Macbeth was born. For many of you, it needs no introduction. An oozing union of cheddar cheese with haggis, rocket, caramelised onions and mustard, the grandeur of its name — with all the Shakespearean drama it evokes — helped seal its fate in the minds of hungry punters. “We were thinking clans and Scottish affinities, so the Macbeth rolled off the tongue really well. And then we added bacon and called it the Hamish Macbeth, now our signature toastie. And a meat-free one, the Lady Macbeth —although I may have offended a few male vegetarians since.”
To begin with, it was just Carol and her van. “And then [my now husband and business partner] Paddy started to help out at the weekends. Business was good for a few years, so we decided the natural thing was to look for a cafe. We’d just moved to Leyton, and there was an opportunity for the market to grow.”
Autumn 2015: like many, we were sad to see the cute French cafe Petite Robe Rose close its doors at 330 Leyton High Road, but Leytonstoner soon broke the news of the incoming Deeney’s here (read the 30 enthusiastic comments, too). “I was quite young and ambitious,” says Carol. “After getting the keys, we opened 21 days later, on my birthday, 22nd October 2015.”
An instant hit, Deeney’s quicky outgrew its inaugural premises, with people flocking from Walthamstow and Hackney, as well as the immediate area. Paddy and Carol soon had their eye on a former Romanian butcher’s up the road at No.360, who were looking to sell on the lease — and so the pair took over this (their current) unit in 2018. “We were running the two in tandem for about six months, while the former’s lease came to an end,” says Carol, “and we tried to figure out how to operate a more elaborate restaurant with full menu and license to sell alcohol.”
Now they were open seven days, with a busy daytime trade, proper breakfasts, brunch options, salads and lunch, as well as venturing, in the late teens, into evening pop-ups from the likes of local heroes Taco Dave, the Italians Upstairs and Decatur.
Key to the ongoing appeal of the parade was artist Camille Walala’s colourful new mural in peak-lockdown summer 2020, the result of a collab between Carol, Paddy, and Andy de Vries of animation studio Mighty Elk.
And things went global, too. Deeney’s stans will know about the franchise in Tokyo, opened by locals Kitz and Yoko, who make their own haggis as it’s not available to import to Japan. “They started as a food truck, had a cafe during the Tokyo Olympics, and now have a permanent set-up in central Tokyo,” she says.
2023 saw another new location in Walthamstow’s leafy Lloyd’s Park. “We’d gotten through the worst of Covid and were ready for a new challenge. After a vigorous tender process with Waltham Forest Council, we were awarded the contract in October 2023 — just as I was nine months pregnant. Thankfully, our contract has just been extended.”
Fast forward to 2025 and how many Macbeths have you sold over the last decade? “It’s impossible to quantify exactly how many but we order five tonnes of haggis a year to see us through the day-to-day, week-by-week. That said, Burns Night is obviously huge — this will be the fourth year we’re bringing a ceilidh to Leyton — and there’s another tonne just for that.”
Finally, let’s not forget the you-know-what a moment away. “We love supporting our beloved Leyton Orient,” she says, “and the loyal customers who come to us before or after every match. It’s unique to have it right on our doorstep.”
In today’s issue: Carol divulges the fascinating secrets of haggis and the Macbeth — as well as giving paid subscribers an exclusive on their next London location opening in the Spring.
Deeney’s are celebrating their decade with free coffees from 8-11am, Mon-Thurs with any hot breakfast all month. There are £10 lunches too, comprising a salad special (roasted curried cauliflower, mini toastie and Dalston Soda), and even 2-4-1 Bloody Marys on Saturdays. 360 High Rd. Leyton, London E10 6QE. Open daily 8am-4pm (from 9pm at weekends). Follow @deeneys
This weekend’s musts
A new cocktail menu at Leyton Calling
The tropical Tilbury Road bar launches its brand new menu tonight to offer lighter “sessionable” libations. One reveal is the Portside Highball, which combines gin, mint, lime and sugar “with a twist” to become “effervescently fruity and super refreshing.” Starts 7pm, till late.
Kitchen residences ending — and beginning
As detailed in last week’s issue, it’s now the last weekend of former Elliot’s head chef Oli Ratcliffe at Leytonstone wine bar Le Regret; the first of two weekends for Italian/ Polish duo Solan at Loop on Francis; and the launch of a triple weekender for Filipino chef Luto at Tilbury Road’s Swirl. More detail on all these here.
Jennifer Earle at Big Penny Social
Forest Gate-based chocolate expert Jennifer Earle is marking 20 years of her tours with a bash in Blackhorse Road tomorrow hosting “makers and bakers from across the UK, with cakes, cookies, croissants, cones and chocolate bars,” she says. Guests include Great British Bake Off winner Edd Kimber, MasterChef finalist Alexina Anatole and chocolatier Paul A. Young. Entry is free from 11am - 430pm, with ticketed tastings. Until 4:30pm, info here.
Also in today’s issue: Jennifer also offers half a dozen tips on hunting down the best chocolate-based treats in the wider neighbourhood.
Welcome to issue #53. This newsletter takes almost the whole of each working week to write, research, edit and produce so thanks to everyone who both subscribes and has upgraded to paid to keep it in Substack’s Top 100 Food & Drink leaderboard — it’s currently at #87 globally.
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Behind this week’s paywall:
The secrets of the Macbeth toastie — and an exclusive reveal of Deeney’s surprising next London location
Sweet-of-tooth? Forest Gate-based chocoholic Jennifer Earle gives us a lowdown on her local go-tos for a sugar hit
New Tilbury arrival Oishi Don reviewed
The best £2 streetfood in London? A wander round the newly reopened Seven Sisters Market
The new Chunk winter menu, croquettes at the Northcote, thoughts on Time Out’s Top 50 pubs — plus a round-up of week’s pop-ups, one-offs, foodie happenings and gossip
Deeney’s: secrets of the Macbeth — and an exclusive on the next location
