PICTURES: Look inside ‘little gem’ Northampton café after refurbishment under new ownership

Chronicle & Echo’s photographer visited Dreams Coffee Lounge on St Giles Street this week to see the results of its recent refurbishment.

The independent café reopened in June after being taken over by 29-year-old mum-of-two and home baker Mariola, who described the venture as her “dream come true.”

Mariola first spotted the business for sale in the Chronicle & Echo earlier this year. She previously said: “We saw the ad in the paper, we put the offer and we got it. I love baking. This is, for me, a dream come true. I’m just really excited to open something. It’s absolutely a great opportunity.”

Since then, renovation work has been taking place to give the site a fresh new look.

Mariola said: “It’s very busy. But I’m happy, I’m really happy and I’m really enjoying doing it. I have an endless list of ideas and how to improve things.

“I’ve changed the entire bathroom, updated chairs, added benches, redecorated and painted the walls, and included specially painted pictures from local artist Sophie. Last week I put up autumn decorations, which is great.”

She added: “Obviously people have been coming here for many years, and I don’t want them to think it’s changed too much. But we’ve also got many new customers, and our long-time customers love it.”

Mariola has expanded the menu and the café’s offerings since taking over, with a new Seasonal Warmers menu starting this week, offering a range of drinks and food for the colder months.

Hot drink options include a Gingerbread Latte, Biscoff Latte, Pistachio Latte, all served with whipped cream and biscuits, as well as a Black Forest Hot Chocolate topped with syrup, whipped cream, a flake, and a cherry. For iced options, the café is serving Iced Cherry Matcha and Iced Blueberry Matcha.

The seasonal food menu includes sweet and savoury choices. Croissants come in Nutella with banana and Biscoff with banana, while savoury options include Ham and Cheese and Eggs Benedict with bacon or smoked salmon. Other offerings include the Chef’s Soup of the Day with a bread roll, a Pigs in Blankets Toastie, Chilli Con Carne Jacket Potato with cheese, and porridge with apple, banana, walnuts, cinnamon, and chia seeds.

She added: “We’ve also added matcha, which is pure matcha. People are obsessed with that. This is number one at the moment – people said we put the best matcha on the map.”

The café will also be opening seven days a week starting this Sunday (September 28).

Mariola added: “I’m always thinking about how to improve things. I’m already thinking about Christmas. We’ve got three events coming next month, and I’m open to more. I’m really happy and really enjoying doing it. Just come down – we’re open and we’re baking fresh every day.”