The organisers of a popular street food pop-up have announced they will launch the concept in a second location due to its continued success.
Michael Robertson and David Griffiths, the duo behind STAXX, have teamed up with Codona’s Amusement Park to bring their second instalment of Backyard Beach Collective to the city centre.
Opening in the car park of Union Square Shopping Centre from next Wednesday (June 23), the team are delighted to launch the additional site due to the increased demand for alfresco dining and street food at their first venue at Codona’s.
Both STAXX and Codona’s approached the shopping centre about renting the space from Union Square which will have no involvement in the running of the operation.
The Codona’s venue saw more than 13,000 visitors attend the street food pop-up in the first month of it opening.
Vendors rotating
Unlike the operation at the beach, vendors will be fixed throughout the summer. Those signed up to take part initially include firms such as AVO, Roots Catering, Bio Cafe, ABERDAM, and a churros stand, Sweet Haus Handcrafted Churros. A hot dog stand, Dirty Dogs, will operated by Codona’s.
Bio Cafe will be present for the first week and on week two, Roots Catering will take over one of the seven units available.
Vegan junk food specialists, Roots Catering, and avocado catering firm, AVO, will both bring completely new street food offerings to the masses, which will be revealed on opening.
The amusement park team will also operate the bar which will feature north-east companies including brewers Brew Toon, and spirits brands Esker Spirits and The House of Botanicals.
The venue will boast around 35 tables and will be open from noon to 10pm Wednesday to Sunday. However, the bar, churros and hot dog stands will be open seven days a week.
Bookings can only be made for Wednesday to Sunday and the venue will operate on a walk-in basis on Mondays and Tuesdays. Walk-ins are also welcome to any other session throughout the week and weekend.
Permanent for summer
The beach operation will be a permanent fixture throughout summer until August and the new Union Square venture will be open until the end of September.
David Griffiths, co-founder of STAXX and street food pop-up, said: “We are excited to launch Backyard @ Union Sq, a second collective of the best local street food and drinks traders from across the north-east which we have co-organised with the supportive team at Codona’s.
“The Backyard Beach Collective has been overwhelmingly well received and while this will remain, with a host of special guests lined up throughout the coming weeks, Backyard @ Union Sq will offer a unique experience in the city centre.
“Our mix of headliner local drinks brands and diverse food offering from local, independent traders has given the public a great taste of what is to come from STAXX in the future.
“While plans for STAXX are still moving at a good pace and in a very positive direction, Michael and I aren’t ones to sit back and wait.
“We are passionate about Aberdeen and are willing to put in the hard graft every single day until STAXX is a reality.”
As well as launching the Backyard brand, Michael and David also unveiled their own catering firm, Dutch fries business, ABERDAM, in which all the profits raised from the business will be injected into STAXX.
Michael Robertson, added: “The phenomenal support so far for our catering concept has already made a huge impact on our chances of covering the early legal and design fees for the project, which we’ve been covering ourselves personally up until this point.
“100% of the profits from ABERDAM contribute directly to STAXX and if trade continues at the levels we’ve seen so far it’ll really stand us in good stead for pushing on with the next steps in our mission to bring it to the city.
“With the high footfall of Union Square we will only have around half of the tables available to be pre-booked to ensure that we can accommodate a good balance of walk-ins and booked guests. If it does appear to be fully booked online we strongly encourage people to come down for one of our walk in only tables.”
To book a table visit www.dishcult.com/restaurant/backyardatthesqaure.
