Vi Coffee opens new café and wine bar in Monkgate, York

Vi Coffee have moved into 2 Monkgate, a site formerly occupied by Meadowcrofts Dry Cleaners. The Swedish inspired café and wine bar has held a unit in Spark:York since late September last year.

The new site, which opened on April 9, offers its signature blend of coffees and hot beverages, as well as a selection of natural wines in the evening.

Barista, and soon-to-be manager of the Monkgate site, Essie Vierra, explained the idea behind Vi.

Vi Coffee, 2 Monkgate (Image: Harry Booth)

"The name is Vi, which in Swedish means 'us'. That's what we're founded on, it's that togetherness.

"We don't do a lot but we do it well," she said.

Essie credited founder Elliot Shore and manager of the Spark site, Oskar Rokhlin, for the rapid growth of the company.

She said: "People were just able to see the difference in what they did.

"They've crafted everything, and don't settle until something is perfect."

Inside the new Vi Coffee (Image: Harry Booth)

At the still-running site in Spark, Oskar reflected on the journey Vi Coffee have embarked on so far.

"It's been crazy, it's a lot of very fast growth," he said.

When quizzed on the reason for their success, he added: "It's going so quick it's almost hard to tell, we try to talk to everyone and value every customer.

"It feels like we're making friends with the people of York.

"One of the things we've tried is to make sure everything people interact with is fantastic."

Vi Coffee has opened at 2 Monkgate (Image: Harry Booth)

The Swedish inspiration came after owner Elliot Shore left York aged 18 to spend the following 10 years in Scandinavia.

Since returning to his home city, with a Swedish wife and child, he founded Vi with the aim to bring authentic Scandinavian coffee back to the people of York.

Explaining this ethos, Vi said: "Specialty coffee shouldn’t be just for the coffee connoisseur, it’s for everyone… it’s for us. Swedes have ‘fika’. The Danes have ‘hygge’ and it’s time York has vi."

The location in Monkgate will be open between 8am and 3pm, from Tuesday to Sunday. Once the natural wine bar facility is up and running, it's expected to be open from 5pm-11pm.

At the moment, Vi employs six people, with staff alternating between the two sites at Spark and Monkgate.