Help us launch Bolla Porthleven!
Here at Bolla, we have big dreams with strong roots in our local culture. Our aim has always been to be a cafe ran by local people, for all people, and we want to continue bringing culinary experiences, a sense of community, and a place for creativity to the people of Porthleven. But both our dreams and our business have outgrown our little space in The Shipyard Market, and to keep the Bolla journey going, we need your help.
We’ve got the perfect space, and we’re building the perfect team…but we need a little bit of help from our community to not only continue providing the delicious food, coffee and wine you all love, but to grow into what we’ve always dreamed Bolla can be.
So we’ve launched this crowdfunder to help us kit out the kitchen where the magic is made, find the perfect tables and chairs for you to sit, sip and share, and to enable us to put on workshops, private events, wine tastings and more.
It’s a big dream, and we might be mad, but we know we can create something that goes beyond tourism and becomes a staple in the village for local people to enjoy.
Where Bolla Started...
As many of you know, Bolla started it’s journey as Poké Food - a small, homerun food delivery business based on the principles of good nutrition and delicious world food. Bolla founder Jaime started Poké from her home kitchen in December 2019 with the dream of not only supporting people’s nutrition and fitness goals - but doing it with delicious food.
After years of working in the catering and events industry, the aim was to cater events and fitness competitions, but when a certain pandemic took over, home deliveries took centre stage. Desperate for the dining out experience, customers across West Cornwall ordered grazing platters, summer rolls, bao buns and bottles of organic wine from Poke for all their special events - from birthdays to Zoom parties, picnics to New Year’s celebrations - and almost every customer became a fan and regular customer of this personalised, fully catered service. Poké thrived, and from here, the ideas of the perfect cafe started to grow.
In February 2023, the opportunity to take on a small but mighty cafe space within The Shipyard Market arose, and Jaime jumped at the chance. Having previously been the legendary Radish Cafe, there were big shoes to fill, but throughout the year Jaime and her team honed the perfect menu, learnt what the locals wanted and needed from this little cafe, and quickly became a destination for locals, tourists, foodies and coffee lovers across Cornwall.
The addition of a concession from Scarlet Wines and a deli full of ingredients from across the globe only added to the lure of Poké food - and soon, it was time for a rebrand as the business evolved: Bolla was born.
Our Vision
Taken from the Cornish for “bowl” or “mug”, the vision was a menu of seasonal bowls of delicious food, evolving as the seasons change and providing the goodness and nutrition we need throughout the year. Locally sourced meat, cheese and vegetables blended with exotic spice blends and fermented food, Bolla now creates delicious, gut-loving dishes which excite the tastebuds and nourish the body.
Our dreams have now outgrown the little box in The Shipyard Market - and whilst it’s served us so well, we know now we need our own space to create without boundaries. We want to become a stylish but relaxed place to meet with friends, work on creative projects, learn more about food and celebrate with loved ones.
The plan is to provide a space which can take you from early morning coffees and breakfast bowls, to work-day lunchbreaks, and straight on to candlelit evenings with great wine and gorgeous plates of food to share with friends.
With local designer Luci Ward (you might know her from Hand and Palm) designing the new cafe, and woodwork wonder Alec Short helping us with carpentry and heavy lifting, we’re already deep in manifesting the perfect space. An oasis of calm, combining fun and uplifting decor with natural textures and repurposed materials. It’s a long way off (which is why we need your help!) but it’s slowly becoming the most beautiful space, created by, and for, the local community.
Located in what was the lovely Hidden Harbour cafe on Fore Street, we’re excited to provide outdoor seating as well as our cosy cafe. We can’t wait to restore some original details in the space, including the loveliest tiled floor hidden beneath layers of laminate, and freshen up the outside to add cosmetic value and a sense of laidback style to this historic part of Porthleven.
Open early til late, comfortable benches with shared seating and an atmosphere of creative calm. The new Bolla will be a year round hub of community support, providing work for local people, and working with the people of Porthleven to give them somewhere special - whether it’s for a bit of WFH variety or a special celebration.
Our Community Goals
Our biggest inspiration is the community and rich culture of our little village - and we want to help our hometown thrive and survive. From providing jobs to locals to hosting a space for local meet-ups, groups and clubs. Half of the passion is great food and drink, and the other half is the people of our amazing village.
We want to host more of our iconic wine tastings, fermentation workshops and culinary classes. We want to provide a space for local creatives to share their work with events, workshops and meetups. We want to welcome sea-swimmers to warm up in the winter with hot coffee and dreamy breakfasts, and to provide walkers with the perfect pitstop on blustery coastal hikes.
By creating a multi-use cafe space, we know that our dreams of becoming a centre of the community, a space for locals to enjoy fabulous food and delicious coffee, are in reaching distance - but we need just a little bit more help.
How You Can Help
Our aim is £4,000 - which is a huge aim and to be honest, if we manage to raise £50 we’ll be chuffed to bits - but if we manage to raise our full target, it’ll help us start on the right path to our Bolla dream.
We’ve got the keys and have already started work painting and building the bones of the space - but there’s so much more we need before we’re done. We’re sourcing the perfect lighting, stocking our delicatessen full of delicious picnic and kitchen essentials, sourcing the perfect crockery and decor, and planning all the kitchen equipment and licensing we need.
From polyfiller to grout, from primer to paint. There’s a lot we need before we can open, and it all adds up (trust us, B&Q can vouch for that!) so we’re boldly and humbly asking you to help - however you can.
If you’d like to help us financially, we literally can’t describe how much we appreciate it - and whether you choose to simply donate, or buy one of our many brilliant rewards, we’ll be incredibly grateful.
However, we know that times are hard and not everyone can afford to help financially, so here’s a few other options that go a long, long way in helping us achieve our goals:
- Share our Crowdfunding posts on Facebook & Instagram to your friends and family
- Like and Comment on our Instagram posts
- Recommend us to a friend
- Help us by putting up a poster in your window or local noticeboards