Daventry's 'best kept secret' now serves cocktails on Saturdays

"We are still Daventry's best-kept secret," says Paul Donnelly as we drink a coffee outside his cafe.
Paul Donnelly outside The FoundryPaul Donnelly outside The Foundry
Paul Donnelly outside The Foundry

But defining The Foundry as a cafe seems unsatisfying and insufficient because it's more than that.

Paul and his team make their cakes and pastries on-site every day, The Foundry stocks deli products you won't find in every shop, it has a varied menu, holds a tapas, wine and cheese night on Fridays and now, on Saturdays, has become a cocktail bar.

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And just in time for summer, an outside deck to the rear of the Foundry Court eatery is being installed.

The Foundry team make theircakes and pastries on-site every day rather than buying them frozenThe Foundry team make theircakes and pastries on-site every day rather than buying them frozen
The Foundry team make theircakes and pastries on-site every day rather than buying them frozen

"We started because we wanted to bring something different to the town," says Paul, a former forensic psychologist.

"We put food on the shelves that you can't get elsewhere and we also use all these products in our cooking; the pasta, the relishes and chutneys."

He adds: "I'm obsessed with food. The idea is to have somewhere I wanted to go for a nice Sunday breakfast."

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Paul has lived in Daventry for 15 years and is a great believer in the town's future.

The Foundry stocksdeli products you won't find in every shopThe Foundry stocksdeli products you won't find in every shop
The Foundry stocksdeli products you won't find in every shop

"Daventry is under-rated. It's central, people tend to go to Milton Keynes, London or Birmingham for shopping so it's never really managed to become a full shopping area, but we are going to have the cinema which hopefully will help," says the 57-year-old.

"It has so much potential."

Sticking to the principle of using local products, the alcohol on offer at the Saturday night cocktail bar is sourced from the area.

The gin is from Warner's, which is based in Harrington west of Kettering, the beer is from Towcester Mill Brewery and their wines are from a Brixworth vineyard.

"People need a reason to come to Daventry," says Paul.

"The town is expanding and people need to come here."

The Foundry owner hopes his ever-changing deli-cum-cafe-cum-bar will help do just that.