‘Overwhelmingly positive’ community response to pop-up food and drink venue over first six months

It has been half a year since Northamptonshire’s newest collaborative pop-up space for food and drink vendors opened its doors – and the co-founder says the response from the community has been “overwhelmingly positive”.

The Pop Up Place, located in the former Muddled Lime HQ in High Street, Long Buckby, has become the home to all kinds of offerings – including Pan-Asian delights, tacos, Caribbean food, desserts, cocktails, and Sicilian coffee.

The venue is the brainchild of two businesses, Muddled Lime by Jay Adams and his partner Chloe’s business, Pop Up Planners.

As the Long Buckby community went a while without having a cafe in the village, Jay previously told this newspaper it was “a challenge for residents to get their heads around having so much on their doorstep”.

There was a “real excitement” for the concept following the opening of The Pop Up Place in November last year, and this has only grown since then.

Jay and Chloe’s mission was to collaborate with as many local and independent businesses as possible, which has been more than a success.

El Jefe’s Taco Thursdays and June Plum’s Caribbean Nights on Fridays have been particularly popular.

“We’ve been taken aback by people coming in to have a look and try it out,” said Jay. “As well as people coming in to tell us how wonderful it is and how lucky they feel to have something like this in the village.

“To have gone without a cafe for a while, they feel grateful for somewhere that provides such variety.”

It is their unique events that have got The Pop Up Place off to a “brilliant start”, as they bring in lots of new visitors.

Jay says their recent bottomless drag brunch “caused a stir” and was a success – as well as the fact they have welcomed new food vendors to the venue.

This has included Yorkshire pudding wraps and roasts from Right in the Yorkie Pud and small plate dining from House of Plates.

Upcoming events include a ‘rum and reggae night’ on May 26, with live reggae music, rum cocktails and Caribbean food provided by June Plum.

Following the success of the bottomless drag brunch, The Pop Up Place is hosting drag bingo on June 2 with a TikTok viral drag queen.

The venue is also hoping to set up a chatty cafe scheme, which is a nationwide initiative to tackle loneliness and welcome in individuals who may not live near family and friends.

By reserving a table each day, this will hopefully provide the opportunity for people to meet others in the community.

The Pop Up Place is even considering extending opening hours, as they currently do not open on the first two working days of the week.

Jay said: “We want to keep building on the momentum gained so far, and create something that can withstand the test of time.”

When asked if the difficulties the hospitality industry faces is affecting The Pop Up Place, Jay says “all things considered, they are looking good and positive”.

“There used to be obvious patterns for quiet and busy times and that’s gone out the window,” said Jay. “People are starting to come out more, which is great, but there’s a lot of guesswork involved.

“Knowing when your peaks and troughs are is something we used to take for granted, as it now changes week by week.”

Despite this, Jay is pleased to see people are coming out more and he said: “No matter how bad things get, the hospitality industry always recovers as everyone wants the luxury of eating, drinking and socialising out.”

You can visit The Pop Up Place’s Facebook page here to keep up with what they are up to.