Your memories: Elizabeth's stirred up fond tales

"PEOPLE used to smell Bert's soup as they came down the road," laughs Elizabeth Cunningham.

Many people will remember exactly what the Leith pensioner is talking about - her days of running two popular cafes in the city are far from forgotten.

Elizabeth, soon to turn 92, and her late husband Bert Cunningham were the brains behind The Canasta, on Bonnington Road, and the Concorde Cafe, on Great Junction Street, running the latter until their retirement in 1983.

"They were very busy cafes and we worked seven days a week," Elizabeth says. "We loved it. Bert was very good in the kitchen - he could make a sandwich out of anything."

Perhaps it was Elizabeth's early taste of employment that gave her the notion of entering the catering business.

After she left Bonnington Road Secondary, she worked in Duncan's Chocolate Factory in Powderhall, where she was surrounded by glorious smells and tastes every day.

"I was too small, though," she smiles. "They had to get a stool for me so I could reach the conveyor belts."

In 1936, Elizabeth met Bert, a timber merchant, in the Eldorado ballroom in Leith and they went on to marry two years later. They had four children and, once they left home, the couple opened The Canasta. But when the owner decided to end the lease on the building, the pair were forced to find new premises. And they did - The Concorde Cafe on Great Junction Street.

"There was a good atmosphere," Elizabeth recalls. "People used to have a laugh there. It was great."

Elizabeth is now a regular visitor to the Granton Day Centre and remains a popular figure in the community.

Although catering became a huge part of her family's life, an abundance of delicious food was not always the norm.

She can remember a time when, during World War II when Bert was serving in the army, he gave their daughter a banana. "But she had no idea what it was!" Elizabeth laughs.