The Dark Horse Espresso Bar on Shambles market is expanding – as they’re opening a cafe on Bishy Road later this year.
The Dark Horse Espresso Bar on Shambles market is expanding – as they’re opening a cafe on Bishy Road later this year.
The popular and much-loved horse-box on Shambles market is known for its delicious coffee and tasty treats and toasties – and is inspired by the Australian coffee culture.
Laura and Mark Edwards first set up The Dark Horse Espresso Bar in 2018, and will be celebrating their sixth year this year.
“The dream from the beginning was a cafe,” said Laura. “But we couldn’t really afford to do it from the get go, so I thought we’ll start small, and grow and see how we go.”
Now their dream is about to come true – as they now have the keys for their own cafe on Bishopthorpe Road, with the aim to open in June this year.
Laura, who was born and raised in York, began her coffee and cafe journey in Sydney in 2003, while she was backpacking in Australia. It was also where she met her husband, Mark, who’s Australian. They lived together in Australia for 15 years.
After they moved back to the UK, along with their two sons Tyler and Alfie, the couple put their coffee dreams into action.
“All our inspiration really has come from Australia,” said Laura. “I really fell in love with the whole coffee and cafe industry over there – it’s like no other.
“The coffee industry wasn’t quite the same as back in Australia and we felt like we wanted to bring that back here. It’s part of who we are.”
Laura and Mark had hopes to expand pre-Covid, but once the pandemic hit they thought it best to put that plan on hold.
“Which thankfully we did,” said Laura. “Then we said if the right place came up, then we just jump on it. And we feel like the place that we found is just perfect for what we want to do.”
The new cafe will be at 147 Bishopthorpe Road, which was previously home to kitchen showroom Knaresborough Kitchens.
Laura and Mark used to drive past the shop every day to work and think it would be the perfect spot for a coffee shop.
“It gets the sun all day, it’s a beautiful location,” said Laura.
One day back in October, Mark saw that it was up for lease – and the rest is history!
“It feels a bit surreal,” said Laura. “I’m so proud of what we’ve achieved because we kind of rebuilt everything when we moved back to the UK.
“I feel really fortunate that I get to do what I love to do every day.”
Now that they’ve got the keys for the building, the next steps will be to renovate everything – turning the shop into their vision of The Dark Horse Espresso Bar.
“It’s basically going to be an expansion of what we do here,” said Laura. “So it’s all about the quality coffee and the quality local products.”
Like the horse-box, the cafe will serve coffee from Australian coffee supplier AllPress, gourmet toasties, and homemade and locally made cakes.
“We want to add a breakfast offering and an afternoon offering, and we hope people we be able to enjoy a glass of wine with their food.”
The new cafe will run concurrently alongside the horse-box on the Shambles market, and will create an estimate of eight to ten jobs.
The reaction to the expansion has been “all positive and really supportive. We get a lot of loyal regulars which fortunately got us through Covid and kept us going.”
The cafe plans to be open seven days a week, from 7.30am – 6pm. On Fridays and Saturdays it may be open until 10pm, and 9pm on Sundays.
To find out more about The Dark Horse Espresso Bar and to keep up to date visit their website and Facebook page.