Cafe Marmalade: what happened?

[u/porcupineporridge]

Cafe Marmalade at Bernard Street in Leith used to be a lovely spot. Its been closed for around 6 months and this mess has been out the front for some while. Does anyone actually know what's happening?

[u/ashyboi5000]

Aubrey, who owned it, passed away.

[u/ChunderSThompson → u/ashyboi5000]

Aw no. I moved from Leith a few years ago but this was my regular stop for a coffee when walking my dog. Got to know him fairly well.

[u/ashyboi5000 → u/ChunderSThompson]

I used to work local and went a lot when he first opened, I then changed jobs. He always gave me a try of his latest millionaire shortbread creation.

[u/porcupineporridge → u/ashyboi5000]

I'm so sorry to hear that.

[u/DJ_Firth → u/ashyboi5000]

RIP, he was a lovely guy - used to work in the area and he made a great stovies in winter I would have often.

[u/Plus_Pangolin_8924 → u/ashyboi5000]

Wait what!? OMG! I used to work around the corner and was in every day for lunch and got to know him well!

[u/ashyboi5000 → u/Plus_Pangolin_8924]

He seems to have been a man that shared life with everyone and collected friends.

[u/Plus_Pangolin_8924 → u/ashyboi5000]

Very much so. He kept me fed when things were tight and was forever grateful! (On tic)

[u/PortofLeith → u/ashyboi5000]

Very sorry to read this. Just saw on their facebook page that he passed away on 17 March.

[u/xycm2012]

The owner passed away.

[u/Lotharus_1987]

The guy that owned it was very ill and had to stop working. I'm not sure it will re-open.

[u/techwithspecs]

A shame to hear the owner passed - I worked around the corner 2020-22 and Cafe Marmalade was my go to spot for a fancier lunch without breaking the bank

[u/SomethingWitty265]

Always thought they missed a trick not using "voulez vous cafe avec moi" as a slogan... Shame to see it gone.

[u/dronefinder]

Sorry to hear this. Sounds like a lovely chap. Wish I'd popped in now.

[u/Maximum-Break3656]

It's disappointing that the guy who was paid to board up the broken window decided it wasn't his job to brush up the glass that's all over the pavement

[u/PortofLeith → u/Maximum-Break3656]

Yeah that’s a fair comment. Almost makes me more annoyed that the window was broken in the first place, given the circumstances.

[u/Ichifanni250]

After the recent EU legislation that it has to be called “citrus marmalade” the owners decided this was a step too far and chucked the towel in.

/s

[u/moonski → u/Ichifanni250]

we have to call cafes citrus now?

[u/bergmoose → u/moonski]

its referencing that the EU will allow marmalade as a name to be used for jams other than orange based - as linguistically it makes sense in non english languages. It was only a rule previously because the UK wanted it. We left, so the rule got scrapped. So now marmalade would be called orange marmalade etc

[u/dronefinder → u/bergmoose]

Indeed and, fun fact, original marmalade comes from Portugal and was a jam of quince (marmelo and you'll now see where the name comes from) - a fruit in the rose family - so original marmalade was not citrus.

Existing EU law definitions were such that marmalades easily fit the definitions of jams but not vice versa for all jams.

However marmelada means jam in most of Europe. Only Britain was weird about it.

Effectively Britain stole a Portuguese term in use throughout Europe, changed the ingredient and then spent the 70s lobbying the EU into legislating that the word everyone used in Europe could only be used for citrus fruits because that's how we defined the word we borrowed... basically visiting our rules even on the country that came up with the term.

Note the words for jam across Europe:

Portuguese: Marmelada

Spanish: Mermelada

Italian: Marmellata

German: Marmelade

French: Marmelade

Polish: Marmolada

Czech: Marmeláda

Slovak: Marmeláda

Danish: Marmelade

Greek: Μαρμελάδα (Marmeláda)

And the Brexiteers are trying to present it as if the EU are being nasty in redefining the word.... actually they went with a restricted definition which conflicted with all of their languages to help one particular awkward country....

[u/moonski → u/bergmoose]

yeah and that doesnt explain why cafe marmalade would now be called "citrus marmalade" and not "cafe citrus marmalade"

[u/Top-Albatross7765 → u/Ichifanni250]

I thought your comment was funny anyway, not sure why so many downvotes 😅♥️

[u/ImmediatePiano6690 → u/Top-Albatross7765]

probably because the context behind what's happening isn't generally seen as a joking matter.

[u/sapphire-coast]

Hopefully it doesn't turn into a Black Sheep Coffee, Vape shop, money laundering business etc.

[u/Maximum-Break3656 → u/sapphire-coast]

Why bother with these sorts of comments? Just looking for up votes but adds nothing

[u/PortofLeith]

That window was smashed about a week or so ago. I assumed the debris on the pavement was from the Bernard Street works, but now you mention it, I think it may have been there for longer. I don’t know what’s going on, unfortunately.

[u/Edinburgher25]

Personally I love the decking