‘Amazing’ response to town centre venue, with ‘unique’ pizza and cocktail offering, during first month open

There has been an “amazing” response to a new venue in Northampton town centre, with a “unique” pizza and cocktail offering, during its first month open.

Pala is the brainchild of two popular hospitality businesses that joined forces to open a restaurant – Santina’s Woodfired Pizza Co. and Saints Coffee.

The team hoped to bring “a little taste of Naples to Northampton” by offering Neapolitan pizza, small plates known as cicchetti, and cocktails at the heart of the town’s Cultural Quarter in Derngate.

Ben Francoise and Nicola Butler from Saints Coffee and Oli Nesbitt and Lauren Vicentijevic from Santina’s have collaborated on many occasions since Saints Coffee first opened in St Giles’ Street.

With the popularity of Santina’s pizza and the pop-up events they host around the county, the four saw this as a great opportunity to take their collaboration to the next level.

The restaurant first opened its doors on August 16 and Ben says the response has been “amazing”.

“We’ve been blown away,” he said. “We know it’s tough economic times for people but we’ve been busy every evening.”

The restaurant has already built up a number of returning customers, some of whom have visited up to five times over the course of the past month.

Ben said: “We’re proud of what the team has done. It’s not easy working in a new restaurant or business. They’ve gone the extra mile.”

When asked what it is that he believes customers like most about the venue so far, Ben said: “The quality of the food and drinks we serve. We only use quality ingredients.

“The atmosphere is inviting and people want to be here. The music, lighting, decor and service are all very important components.

“One thing about Northampton is how much people love to support independents. Everybody goes for it.”

Ahead of opening, Pala gave out 60 free pizzas – which helped to build “excitement and a buzz”, while ensuring the kitchen worked properly and gave the team members experience.

The speed of service has also been appreciated by customers, as Pala currently only offers walk-ins.

The team believes it is the “inviting atmosphere, quality food and drink, and authenticity” that should encourage new customers to give them a try.

Ben says it has been “really good” to provide more hospitality jobs in Northampton, across their kitchen, bar and front of house.

Despite having already hired the “strong core” of their team, they are still recruiting as they hope to expand their offering and will need more people to do so.

“Everyone’s learning quickly and we deal with the pressure of queues,” said Ben. “We feel fortunate.”

The Pala team is already looking to open an upstairs space to accommodate more visitors and to begin taking bookings. They are already taking bookings for Christmas dinner parties and gatherings.

They also want to open on online food delivery platforms, and introduce a separate online ordering system for those who want to pick up.

Down the line, Ben says they also want to expand their menu – with the addition of more cicchetti small plates and cocktails, to utilise the skills of their bar staff.

For more information on Pala, visit their Instagram page here.