Operator profile: King of Feasts

Once upon a time, most tales of business success started in the pub. Today, it’s more likely they’ll begin with a lockdown-inspired change of career. Covid wrought havoc on the hospitality sector, prompting plenty within it to reconsider their day jobs and motivating some to go it alone. Rob Casson falls into this category. Today, his King of Feasts draws visitors from around the world to an Edinburgh pub, keen to sample his piled-high sandwiches. His creations, from Cubanos to fried chicken concoctions and tater tot subs, even earned him a spot in the Financial Times’ 10 best sandwiches in the world list.

It may now be a grab-and-go heavyweight, but King of Feasts had humble beginnings back in 2020, when Rob’s job as a chef at an Edinburgh wine bar was halted by Covid. While the business initially pivoted to sandwiches and tins of wine, Rob was later told he wouldn’t be brought back. At a crossroads, he invested what he had into his first pop-up at a local pub which had shut its doors during the pandemic, and, he says, “crossed my fingers”.

Chicken cutlet with vodka sauce, left, and fried chicken with whipped ricotta and mortadella, right

“The pop-up was really helpful,” he says. “At the beginning, I had very minimal start-up costs. I was very lucky, though there was a lot of guilt because I was using the kitchens of pubs that hadn’t been able to make it through the pandemic.”

It was, he admits, a slow start. “I did two weeks and it was okay, but it was not feasible to maintain and I knew it had to improve,” he says. “And then, as it often seems to go, I fed someone important on Instagram. They posted about it and overnight I went up about 900 followers. It became pretty busy and then progressively we had more and more followers.”

He spent a month or two at a time in different venues, from breweries to closed pizza shops, for the next 18 months, taking his stacked sandwiches around Edinburgh and building a following. Creations including buffalo fried chicken with devilled egg mayonnaise and Doritos, chicken cutlet with vodka sauce, the nose-to-tail Cubano (made with mojo pork belly, shaved tongue and slow-roast pig head) and beef broth-soaked pastrami with Monterey Jack cheese and bone marrow-infused burger sauce have, unsurprisingly, taken off. Did we mention the pie, egg and chips sandwich?

But for a chef with a 14-year strong fine dining background, why the humble sarnie? “Sandwiches are my favourite thing to eat,” Rob explains. “They are perfect. I had become sick of putting food on plates. People see sandwiches as just a cheap meal and I wanted to show that you don’t have to scrimp – you can have a full meal between two slices of bread.”

Rob's fried chicken and slaw creation

As the country began to emerge from lockdown in 2021, Rob says he began to consider the future of King of Feasts – would the pop-ups which thrived in lockdown still be in demand when restaurants reopened? Then he had a strike of good fortune.

“There was a moment when we were coming out of lockdown when I thought, ‘I need to rethink what we are doing or this isn’t going to go on much longer’,” he says. “I took a permanent residency at the Polwarth Tavern and then I saw the Financial Times had listed me in the top 10 best sandwiches in the world. It absolutely exploded and it still hasn’t come back to Earth.”

Judges praised the sandwiches’ size and “utilitarian” nature, noting they were filled to the brim. After the list – which put King of Feasts next to the likes of Katz’s Delicatessen in New York and Max’s Sandwich Shop in London – was published, Rob said he and the pub owner were met by a queue of people on their first day back. They sold out within 45 minutes.

“I’ve had people message from Seattle saying they are coming for a sandwich at the pub,” Rob adds. “There’s definitely been a bit of imposter syndrome. I know I work hard and I’m not going to question it.”

Rob Casson, who is behind King of Feasts

Rob knows social media has been instrumental in his success – he has a large following, thanks no doubt in large part to great photography. “I wish social media wasn’t as important as it is,” he says. “I don’t have a presence on anything else and I’m a very private person. It’s why when I first started, I wanted to operate under a name that wasn’t my name.”

Despite overwhelming requests for certain sandwiches, Rob says he is keen to keep things fresh – he rarely puts a sandwich on a menu twice, instead switching it up daily. Every dish is tested and approved by his daughter (who also came up with the name of the business) and two in particular receive the most attention.

“The Japanese curry fried chicken and tater tot melt sandwiches are really popular,” he says. “I get 10 to 20 messages a week asking, ‘When is this going to come back?’, and I always say probably never.”

He is aware of the power of the favourites, though – on the first weekend after the football league ended (the tavern is popular among fans), he ran a hall of fame event with his five most requested sandwiches. The result? One of his busiest weekends to date.

King of Feasts has certainly transformed Rob’s life. He has gone from working 65 hours a week to opening on Thursday to Saturday evenings, freeing up the rest of his time to spend with his daughter. While he is tight-lipped about what the future holds, he says it will remain at the tavern for a couple of years, though from the end of the year it may not be him in the kitchen, with another secret project under way.

The nose to tail cubano - mojo pork belly, shaved pig tongue and slow-roast pig head

So, in such a crowded market, what has made King of Feasts stand apart? “I’m unpretentious,” he says. “I’m not trying to be anything else. I say to people, ‘Do you want hash browns in a sandwich or do you want fried chicken covered in curry sauce?’ It’s refined junk food.

“If I had any advice, it would be to not try and be more than you are. At the beginning, we tried to be too fancy. When you have deliveries and collections piling up, you don’t want to have to be fiddling around over small details.

“I think there’s definitely a bit of the family aspect about it too. I have been here throughout the pandemic and I’ve been able to meet a lot of people who come to pick up their orders. I’m not hiding behind a big company. As much as it has downsides, it’s my name above the door.”

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