J.K. Rowling wrote parts of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone in Edinburgh’s Nicolson’s Café.
While living in Edinburgh in the early 1990s, Rowling often wrote in cafés as she worked on the manuscript. Nicolson’s Café, on Nicolson Street, became associated with the early drafting of the first Harry Potter novel. The book was eventually completed after years of work and published in 1997.
The Elephant House is more famously marketed as the “birthplace” of Harry Potter, but Rowling has clarified that much of the first book was written at home and in several locations. Nicolson’s Café therefore refers to a documented writing place, not the sole origin of the entire series.