About a year ago, we first brought it to your attention that Avanda Flower Shop was moving from its longtime location on 19th Street, just steps away from Rittenhouse Square, to a new spot on the corner of 16th & Pine. At the time, we explained that Metropolitan Bakery would likely be taking over that space, expanding their popular corner location into the new space to offer seating and additional coffee options.

Just a couple of days ago, the new cafe space opened to the public.

View of the space

We took a peek inside yesterday, and we were surprised to see that the space is not actually an expansion of the existing location, but rather a separate establishment with a somewhat different concept. Well, at least it will be, in a few weeks. While the corner space undergoes some minor renovations, including some alterations to the counter area and a refinishing of the floor, the new space will take on the personality of the bakery for the in the interim.

Shot of the corner

The new space is roughly three times the size of the corner, and will eventually offer a full cafe menu, according to Michael Klein. Seating will come at the end of the month, along with espresso drinks, sandwiches, soups, and salads. The space looks really nice and we suspect they’ll do pretty well for themselves.

Inside of the space, courtesy of Foobooz

Seems to us that Metropolitan is making a play for the customers left without a place to go on the southern side of the square when Tuscany Cafe went under a couple of years ago. Sure, there are plenty of places to get coffee and a sandwich on the north side of Rittenhouse, but who wants to walk through a beautiful park full of happy children, relaxing business types, and raving lunatics to get to them?