A Vietnamese American restaurateur who has specialized in coffee is brewing up a new café concept that he says will be the anchor of a cultural events hub located on the site of the former Dorchester Tire business at 1160 Dorchester Ave. in Savin Hill.

Tam Le, whose family owns and operates Pho Hoa Restaurant at 1370 Dot Ave. north of Fields Corner, shut down his popular Reign Drink Lab adjacent to Pho Hoa last fall and moved it to South Boston. But he says the new venture – Lêgacy Càphê – will tie up the loose ends and elevate the Vietnamese coffee experience in the neighborhood.

Le hopes to introduce the concept to neighbors soon and break ground by the end of the year, with an opening next spring.

“We are approaching the one-year anniversary of closing Reign in Dorchester,” he said in an interview this week. “When we closed Reign, it was only toward the end I realized the community and customers valued it as a local business. Since then, it’s been my goal to get Reign back in Dorchester.”

He said that some of the things Reign lacked were seating and a food program, two priorities featured at Lêgacy. “We see this as the next evolution of Reign Drink Lab in Dorchester,” he added.

The new concept, just a few blocks up from Le’s “home base” at Pho Hoa, comes with help in the form of a Supporting Pandemic Affected Community Enterprises (SPACE) grant from the city, and a new partnership with Ash and Pop Chan, whose family also owns the Dot Block development nearby and was instrumental in securing the Dorchester Tire site. The Chans and Le believe that with Lêgacy, they can kickstart a cultural hub for Dorchester on the property with events, showcases, and arts presentations.

Already, the ‘Illuminus’ group has had a couple of shows on the property utilizing projected artwork, and that is seen as a starting point for the overall concept. “We see opening the café as the first step in realizing that vision,” said Le.

Lêgacy will feature a food program that will be a fusion-oriented “spin” on classic breakfast and lunch items developed in consultation with the chef at his Quincy restaurant, Le Madeline.

The coffee will be the centerpiece though, complete with a roastery on site. Le met Vietnamese coffee producers at an industry expo in 2021 and soon after began to import coffee beans directly from Vietnam.

During that event, he had a discussion with a woman in a Vietnamese long dress, and found out that she represented top growers in Vietnam. He said the conversation represented the beginning of “an amazing business relationship” that has resulted in him travelling to Vietnam to meet the farmers, learn how they grow the coffee beans, process them, and brew them the traditional way.

Now, as a first-generation Vietnamese American, he said he is excited to bring the coffee industry to the forefront in Dorchester while also supporting the farmers he has come to know.

“The thought of creating this bridge to Vietnam and growing the Vietnamese coffee profile in the United States while supporting these farmers in Vietnam is very meaningful to me and something I’ve grown very passionate about,” he said.

The former Dorchester Tire building on Dot Ave. Seth Daniel photo

Getting coffee beans from Vietnam is different, he explained, because Vietnamese coffee uses the Robusta bean, as opposed to the more common Arabica bean in American coffees. “That’s what Vietnamese coffee is known for and what gives it that bold flavor and why it is so strong and caffeinated,” he said.

For the time being, Le will be perfecting his coffee program – including the former Vietnamese cold brew he used to serve at Reign – at Le Madeline. But once the doors open at Lêgacy next year, he’s confident that it will become a new coffee and cultural hub for Dorchester.