Full houses as Fife theatre launches outdoor cafe and bar

Fife’s newest outdoor cafe and bar opens its doors again on Friday after a hugely successful launch.

The Advantage, which sits outside Kirkcaldy’s Adam Smith Theatre, enjoyed two ‘full houses’ last week.

It continues again this Friday and Saturday, bringing together a host of Fife food producers.

“We were blown away by the support we had,” said Judy Rae, ONFife’s head of business development.

“We set out to reconnect with the community as we ease out of lockdown, provide a safe space where people can come together to enjoy good food and drink and the company of friends, and at the same time give a helping hand to local producers who have been facing tough times over the last five months.

“The feedback we’ve had from customers has been overwhelmingly positive and we’ve been genuinely touched by some of the stories - we even had people who said this was their very first social get-together since lockdown began.”

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She added: ““That the theatre itself is a much-loved landmark in the centre of town was another factor in our favour, and of course the weather on our opening two days really added to the al fresco, relaxed atmosphere we want to create.”

While the majority of the hundreds of customers were locals enjoying the food and drink on

offer, the first on Friday were visitors to the town.

“We’d only been only a matter of minutes when a party arrived who had just walked down from the station – they hadn’t heard anything about The Advantage but saw the tables and bunting so became our first customers,” Judy added.

The Advantage is offering a real taste of summer with a big helping of great producers, including Kirkcaldy favourites Kangus Coffee House and the Buffalo Farm; from St Andrews is the award-winning Jannettas Gelateria, St Andrews Brewing Co and Eden Mill Gin; and providing hand-crafted bespoke afternoon tea is cake and food experience company Hatters from Newburgh.

“The weather is looking fantastic again for this weekend so we’re now looking forward to welcoming back customers who had a great time with us last weekend and saying hello to new faces, too,” said Judy.

An alternative space has been set up inside the theatre should the weather take a turn for the worse.

The café and bar operates fully in line with Scottish Government guidelines and appropriate social distancing and there is also be a take-away option.

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