If you pay attention to Canberra's food scene for any length of time, you'll start to notice certain names popping up again and again.
One of them is Omar Muscat. He's owned, run or teamed up with a long line of Canberra venues, including Double Shot and Locale in Deakin, Urban Pantry and Public in Manuka, Cream in Civic and, more recently, the much-loved Little Sutton Bakehouse in, you guessed it, Sutton.
It's a small country town, right? Only a stone's throw from Canberra, but still, nothing like the chic suburban surrounds of Manuka or Deakin. And yet, he's adamant the time is right to bring some of that country charm right into the old Inner South.
When he revamped the popular cafe Double Shot there 14 years ago, Muscat brought on board Daniel Sparrow, barista extraordinaire and business partner who had started his career in hospitality back in the Cream days in Civic.
The pair teamed again four years ago to open Little Sutton Bakehouse, building up a near-instant following for their handcrafted artisan sourdough and buttery croissants. These days, Sparrow is a self-made master baker extraordinaire, heading up the bakery operations in Sutton.
And now, they're bringing some of this sweet magic into town.
"We've got a very strong community there ... We've worked very hard to build a very good product together with the sense of community that Dan and I love to build," Muscat says.
"We, in four years, have created a venue where people like to hang and enjoy each other and grab and go, and have breakfast and blah blah blah.
"So actually we're adding to what Deakin has got already."
Muscat closed Locale a couple of months ago, a classic Italian venue on a buzzy corner of Deakin shops. In a month's time, it will be reborn as a younger sibling to the Little Sutton Bakehouse, complementing Double Shot next door, and bringing what the pair see as a much-needed sense of community to the shops.
And the high-quality products - gourmet pies, cakes and pastries - will be brought in from Sutton. Muscat says the bakehouse is already supplying more than 20 other venues around Canberra with baked goods.
"So we said, well, we're only supplying to others - why don't we supply it to ourselves?" he says.
And he says Deakin shops is the place to be for a high-end bakery.
"We've got a really cool balance, to be quite honest," he says.
"We've got the IGA, which is doing a fresh new fitout, you've got Cafe Delish, which has got his own type of clientele as well."
There's also a gym, Pilates studio, the Croatian Club and, behind Double Shot, designer shoe boutique Sissa Sorella.
"There's a dynamic of personalities that will come through Deakin precinct, especially with all the parliamentarians and professionals," he says.
And while the pair want the new iteration of the bakehouse to be a place to grab a morning coffee, lunch or afternoon tea, the experience will go beyond artisan bread and pastries.
Once summer sets in, Little Sutton Deakin will also host the bakery's much-loved sourdough pizza nights, accompanied by wine and G&Ts.
After 30 years in hospitality, Muscat says while it's important to try new things, it's all about bringing people together.
"I think we've just got to keep believing that people need people, full stop," he says.
That's my philosophy. People need people and want to feel a sense of connection. And I think these types of businesses allow that to happen."
Little Sutton Deakin is set to open in early September.
