The former Espresso Royale on Fairview Avenue in St. Paul’s Macalester-Groveland neighborhood is getting new life as an Italian market and eatery.

Eric and Vanessa Carrara, who also own i.e. Italian Eatery in Minneapolis, are basing the new concept, called Dué Focacceria, on an Italian piazza, or town square.

“People there go to the piazza and just mix and mingle and migrate and eat and drink, and that’s what we’re trying to create over by our house,” Eric Carrara said.

The couple lives just a few blocks from the building and would walk there to get coffee. They are hoping that neighbors treat the new space, which will include a focaccia counter, Italian meats, cheeses and other sundries, simple sandwiches, coffee, wine and cocktails, as a gathering space just like the ones they have enjoyed in Italy.

The Carraras aren’t worried about the building’s 2,000-square-foot footprint being too small to accommodate their aspirations.

“In Italy, they’re all small, literally everything is small,” Eric Carrara said. “They have little bars that literally have two seats. You can get a glass of bubbles and hang out there. It’s the coolest thing in the world.”

There will be about 30 seats inside and a 20-seat, covered patio, with more seating on sidewalks leading up to the building. They will have the ability to close off part of the restaurant for full-service meals, but Carrara said they’ll only do that for private rentals.

Construction is underway, and Carrara said they’ll open sometime in early summer.

Due Focacceria: 475 S. Fairview Ave., St. Paul