A POPULAR family business is expanding to bring a taste of the Mediterranean to Darlington's indoor market.

The husband-and-wife team behind Foffano’s, an Italian restaurant in Darlington’s Market Square, will open a deli in early July.

The deli will take the place of a florist’s shop in the town’s Victorian indoor market and will offer a variety of Italian produce, freshly-prepared delicacies including pizza slices and a range of home-cooked desserts.

Stefano and Emma Foffano believe their new venture will offer something different and help to support the town by attracting more people to the indoor market.

Mrs Foffano said: “We’ll be offering fantastic ingredients and products you can’t get from supermarkets, items that come directly from Italy.

“We’ll sell pasta sauces made at our restaurant and everything we make will use authentic ingredients from Italy and meat and vegetables sourced locally, from places like Mulholland’s butchers.”

Mr Foffano added: “It’s important that people know where their food is coming from and everyone’s more switched on about that these days.”

The deli will be open Mondays to Saturdays between 9.30am and 3pm.