The owners of Badenoch’s in Elgin are set to open a new business venture in the town’s former Starbucks.
Last year, the coffee giants left the property at 143 High Street for bigger premises at the former Burtons store across the road.
Now Nathan Davies and his partner Ashlyn are opening up a new cafe named Norahs inside the well-known town centre building.
It will offer coffee, homemade cakes, smoothies, sandwiches and pastries.
In April, we exclusively revealed their plans to breathe new life into the building.
Only last year, the pair took over the Elgin High Street pub and restaurant Badenoch’s and transformed it to provide a diverse and unique dining experience.
They have always wanted to pursue a business with freshly baked goods at the centre of it.
Therefore when the former Starbucks building became available, it was a no brainer.
‘We have always wanted to have a coffee shop and patisserie’
Nathan said: “The new cafe has been named after my daughter Norah.
“We have always wanted to have a coffee shop and patisserie.
“My daughter loves playing kitchen and baking with her grandmother.
“She is always helping her in the kitchen and that’s why it has been named after her.
“Everything will be made in house.”
Inspiration from the capital
The couple are keen to replicate the vibe of the Twelve Triangles which has been wowing customers in Edinburgh for some time across their various bakeries in the capital.
Nathan explained: “There are a lot of cafes and coffee shops in town.
“However there isn’t a really good patisserie that makes fresh bread and pain au chocolat here.
“Somewhere serving the kind of things you see in cities like Edinburgh.
“In the capital you have places like the Twelve Triangles and the Patina Bakery, which is the vibe we are going for.
“The chef we have hired has worked in one of those places before so she has a lot of experience in home baking and capturing the market for light lunches.”
Here are some pics of the food on offer:
Plans to have a wine bar
They will use the building as a wine bar in the evenings at a later stage.
It will be a new addition to the Elgin nightlife.
The pair are awaiting approval for their provisional premises license application.
He explained: “Later down the line, we will open up as a nice upmarket wine bar in the evening with cheese and meat boards.
“We are still going through the licensing process.
“Once we get our licence, the plan is to close the cafe for a hour to have a break before operating it as a wine bar in the evenings.”
The couple also has plenty of ideas to hold events too.
In the meantime, they will focus efforts on the morning trade as a cafe.
Why choose the former Elgin Starbucks building?
The B-listed building has played many roles over the years.
They include the fast food chain Bytes, a central branch of the Royal Bank Of Scotland in Elgin and H Samuels.
Since the pair arrived in Elgin, they have always admired the building.
Nathan said: “I have always loved that building.
“Before we took over Badenoch’s, someone told me this place would make a good cocktail bar.
“When it became vacant, we had come back from some bakeries in London and it made us think it is the perfect space.”
Meanwhile, they say the unit is a good location in the Elgin town centre and see lots of opportunities to further develop the space.
The future of Elgin
They are both positive about the future of Elgin.
Ashlyn said: “It is great to see many new businesses opening up in Elgin as it brings more footfall.
“Therefore, every time someone opens up a business in Elgin it will benefit everyone.”
Meanwhile, Nathan said there is “a lot of positivity” in Elgin and wants to encourage more people to open up new businesses.
Norahs is set to open next week.
It will operate six days a week from 8am to 5pm.
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