Crown Deli, Inverness

Jet lag eased me out of bed at 5.30 AM the morning after our reunion celebration, so I snuck off to explore the historic neighborhood of the Corriegarth Hotel. Surprised to discover the tiny Crown Deli open for business at 6.00 AM on a Saturday, I peaked inside to spot my favourite appliance at that time of day - an espresso machine! “Any chance of a coffee at this time of day?” says I. Roddy Morrison the owner said not a word, but turned briskly to his shiny machine and deftly set about the daily ritual I generally enjoy at home.

Roddy’s tiny wedge-shaped corner deli specializes in custom catering of home style Scottish delicacies, several of which were already well underway. Roddy rolls out of bed at 3.00 am and after a short walk to work, commences preparing ingredients for the day’s orders by 3.30 AM.

I guess my strange blended accent made it obvious that I was “from away”, so we chatted about Vancouver Island and Tasmania. Roddy had two relatives who’d migrated to Tasmania, and I had a Morrison friend years back, so we easily found a mutual Tasmanian connection. While one of Roddy’s relatives had remained in Tassie, the other returned home only to drown in the River Clyde!

After a pleasant chat in the time it took to make my coffee, Roddy set me on my way for a delightful morning walk, which I’ll describe in my next post. However on my return to the Corriegarth an hour and a half later, I popped back into the Crown Deli to secure two more lattés for Pen & me. A lovely start to my day!