Restaurant owner defies odds and opens first dream restaurant in Northampton during pandemic

Ex-teacher Paulina Kopyciel-Kubala has moved to Northampton to open up her first long-awaited restaurant but it has not all been smooth sailing.

After searching the length and breadth of the country for her dream brasserie-style restaurant, she fell in love with the former Foodies Rocks unit in Derngate.

Then, in August, Pjayz kitchen was opened, serving food from around the world, including curries from Pakistan, Turkish Kofta kebabs and Polish dishes taken from Paulina's heritage.

Paulina has spent 14 years in catering and cut her teeth working in kitchens in London before going on to become a hospitality and catering teacher at Waltham Forest College in Walthamstow.

She said: "We were looking across the country for a place and we came over to view this place back in December and I fell in love and I said 'this is the place because it's so nice'.

"It has always been my dream to have my own restaurant, I used to work in restaurants and passed all my qualifications to go into the teaching side of things but cooking has always been my passion.

"So, in the end I left my job and thought the best thing was to open a smaller business so I could present the food myself and make sure the food is a good standard. We are serving dishes from different parts of the world. We are making everything from scratch here, even the béchamel sauce for the lasagne."

When she set her eyes on Pjayz back in February, COVID-19 was unheard of. Paulina said the virus has presented her business with challenges but she's doing her best to adapt.

"It has been difficult," she said. "However, we have quite a big space where we can spread the tables out. We can still sit up to 40 people within the regulations but it can be quite hard because some people are coming in and they are saying they don't want to wear a face covering and want to go elsewhere, so we have to tell them to leave. We have a duty to our customers and staff to make them safe."

Pjayz, which opened on August 1, is open seven day a week, from 10am to 10pm, where she will be serving breakfast, lunch and dinner with the help of her commis chef and two waitresses, delivery driver...and her dad who washes the pots.

She added: "We are now being recognised on Just Eat so hopefully we can carry on with deliveries. I was always more orientated with fine dining and putting our desserts in takeawaay boxes are quite hard to do. I don't want our customers at home to think they are being treated differently from customers in the restaurant, we have to look after all of them."

Guests are asked to sanitise on their way into the restaurant, have their temperatures taken and wear a face mask before they are seated. A track and trace QR code is placed at the door.

"Being in the kitchen takes team work in these hard times, we have to follow the guidance and we have our own sections. We have all had Covid-safe training and all staff know how to follow the guidance well."