A Dundee cafe is set to open a new coffee shop in St Andrews.
Empire State Coffee is taking over the former Rocca Italian deli on the Fife town’s Bell Street.
It is hoped that the new takeaway coffee shop will open in the third week of May.
General manager Luca Saputo, 50, says the new location will allow Empire State to offer pizza and other hot food it cannot produce in Dundee.
New Empire State Coffee opening in St Andrews
Luca has worked with Empire State Coffee since it first opened on High Street in Dundee in 2009 before moving to its current Whitehall Crescent base in 2016.
He told The Courier: “We have been looking for a place for a little while now in the St Andrews area but it is so difficult to find the right place because of the competition and expensive rates.
“A friend of a friend owned Rocca and wanted to get away so the opportunity came along and we took it.
“We are getting the keys at the start of May and then there will be some work then we will be open by the end of May.
“We used to offer special pizzas but when we moved to Whitehall Crescent space was limited.
“We wanted to take on somewhere which would let us bring this back.
“The menu in St Andrews will be a copy of what we have in Dundee with food and coffee and then will have pizza.
Empire State manager not ‘scared of St Andrews competition’
“It also means we will be able to offer the pizza in Dundee.
“I think people will be amazed at the choices put in front of them.”
Luca is also determined that Empire State can compete against other coffee shops in the town, including the new Cafe Nero next door.
He said: “We wanted to open in St Andrews because it is a popular destination but it is also so hard for a coffee shop to open there because there are so many.
“But I have never been scared of competition, it just motivates me to do better work.
“We have Pret that has just opened near us on Whitehall Crescent but we were not scared of that.
“We believe in what we are doing.”
Empire State Coffee is owned by Emma Hann, who is best known for being at the helm of Scotland’s biggest family.
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