This week’s LDNER is the owner of Little Nan’s bar. After popping up all over the shop, Little Nan’s finally decided to open a permanent home in Deptford, so we thought it was about time we caught up with the ‘Duke Of Deptford’ AKA the owner Tristan Scutt.
Where in London do you live and what do you like about the area?
I live and am from Deptford. Its my home and I love it! The area is changing so fast, and I used to run the Deptford Arms on the High Street over 10 years ago, and now there are loads of new developments which I have learnt to accept whilst still remembering how the area used to be. I love the diverse community in the area, and how friendly and neighbourly everyone is. My fav place of all tho is my beloved Deptford Market, where I am every Weds, Friday and Saturday. Been going there since I was a kid and never get bored of it. You can lose a morning there, just mooching about and bumping into mates.
Little Nan’s is known for it’s crazy interior stylings (and bangin’ cocktails OBVS!), but where do you source everything and do you design the pop ups yourself?
Aww thanks! Yes I design the pop ups myself and it’s pretty much how the inside of my head looks. I don’t need mood boards ha! My friend and master craftsman Matt Sargent has helped me in creating most of my pop ups and helped me to turn my dreams into a reality. Most of the furniture and ornaments were originally my late little Nan’s, but as the pop ups increased so has my hoarding and you can always find me down Deptford Market sourcing treasures for the bars. I currently have over 60 chairs stacked up in my Kitchen waiting to be moved to the new Deptford bar. I can’t turn down a deal me, I’m the modern day Del Boy!
The themes of the bars are extreme kitsch, a style my Nan and I adored. White walls scare me and it makes me upset when other bars open up and just seem to follow the same guidelines of plain interiors and open filament bulbs…
Little Nan’s is a tribute to your own nan, what do you think she’d think of it?
My Nan was really dear to me, and the bar is a tribute to her and all the other nans out there! My Mum (little Mum) tells me that Nan would have been really proud, so I am taking that compliment! It’s great to have a job where you remember a loved one every single day and where I can continue to spread the joy that my nan gave me.
You’re finally getting a permanent home in Deptford, what can we expect from the bar and how will it be different from the pop ups?
Waaaaa!!! As you know, I am from Deptford and I am literally so excited to be coming home. The Dalston Pop up below the Rio Cinema has just been extended til next year and the Peckham Tropical Den below the amazing Golden Anchor is turning into Little Nan’s FIRST ever exclusive private hire party bar, perfect for special birthdays where we offer a free hire! But all roads lead back to Deptford, and this bar will be the flagship bar and where my heart lies. You will find me at the Deptford Bar all the time so it’s going to be kitsch as hell, and showing the love of Deptford that I have. The Arches that we are below form part of the oldest railway structure in the UK, built in 1836, so we’re steeped in so much history. We will be serving food for the first time too: Tristan’s Toast Toppings where you can choose what type of toasted bread you want and over 60 types of toppings. We are also going to be launching a special mix, Deptford Disco Dust, which will be sprinkled all over our ‘Disco Food’ menu, as well as new solo cocktails along with our Teapot cocktails!
And finally, what would your perfect day in London be?
Start of with a mooch round Deptford Market to find some treasures, followed by getting the DLR to Lewisham and having a fry up at Maggies Cafe. I love Maggies I do. If you want an authentic London hidden gem, then Maggies is the place to be. I would then go round Lewisham Market to buy fruit for juicing and smoothies, then walk to Telegraph Hill and have a cup of tea and chat in my favourite cafe The Hill Station. I’d then take walk through Telegraph Hill Park and down to the Golden Anchor pub in Nunhead to have a midday rum punch. Feeling a bit tipsy, I would then go back to Deptford and have lunch of liver and bacon at Bianca’s Café on Deptford High Street. Feeling pretty full, I’d then go to Abstractucus antique shop at the end of the high street and have a chat with Alan and buy a few things, followed by a walk up Tanners Hill past Welbeloved butchers to Aladdin’s Cave antique yard on Lewisham Way to have a look at more things. I would then go back down the Deptford and start work at the bar, chatting to all the locals and shaking up some cocktails. When we close I would go across the road to Busta Mantis bar until they close, and then head to a house party until the early hours!
Arch 14, Deptford Market Yard, 133 Deptford High St, London SE8 4NS
www.littlenans.co.uk