Brand new Northampton town centre venue, with ‘unique’ pizza and cocktail offering, is closer to opening

A brand new Northampton town centre venue, which will be the home to a “unique” offering of pizza, small plates and cocktails, is edging closer to opening to the public.

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

The team hopes 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.

It was shared on social media that the Santina’s team and Saints Coffee paid Pala a visit on Wednesday evening (August 2) to give the venue a test run.

Having tried the “amazing pizzas, tasty small plates and some banging cocktails”, the post read that the visit “did not disappoint”.

Pala is said to be launching officially “very soon” and to follow the business’ page for more details.

Just two days ago, Pala posted to say that customers will soon be able to enjoy their pizzas from the comfort of their home as the venue will be available to shop on local delivery apps.

Having also given away 60 free pizzas at the end of last month, the excitement is building for the restaurant to open its doors and for the public to enjoy what they have to offer.

Speaking to this newspaper when it was first announced in May that Pala was coming to the town centre, co-owner Ben said: “Pala will provide a welcoming atmosphere and somewhere customers enjoy being.

“Excellent food, drinks and service are important first and foremost.”

Despite it being a challenging time for the hospitality industry at the moment, he added: “We felt confident and sometimes you just have to take the opportunity. We’ve always wanted to explore different avenues in hospitality.”

Oli and Lauren, from Santina’s, said: “We’re buzzing to be opening a restaurant.

“We hope to bring a little taste of Naples and something fresh to Northampton. Santina’s has gone from strength to strength, and this is a logical next step for us as a business.”

Though the team is not naive to the fact there are other restaurants offering pizza and cocktails, they hope to combine them in their own “unique way”.

The restaurant name, Pala, is the name of the paddle used to take pizza in and out of ovens – and the team was pleased to find a short and catchy word that encapsulates what they will offer.

An opening date for the public is yet to be confirmed, but you can check out the new restaurant’s ever-growing Instagram page to keep an eye out for more details.

You can follow Pala’s Instagram page here.