From construction to a cafe owner, meet the friends behind 166CafeBar in Battersea

166CafeBar sits on Battersea Park Road opposite Harris Academy.

Even though it only opened four months ago it has already become a firm favourite with the locals.

The cafe's owners, Peter and Sergio, wanted to create a casual space.

Peter told Battersea Nub News: "One of the main bits of feedback is that it's just a place to hang out and that's what we wanted to create originally, a place to hang out."

This is the pairs first business venture together, neither of them having experience in running a cafe before.

Peter, 35, owns a construction and development business whilst Sergio, 31, is a food photographer.

The cafe is small but bright and welcoming with furniture that doesn't match but compliments each other.

Almost everything in it has been repurposed, including the cafe's chest of drawers, once belonging to Peter's grandmother.

Peter, his brother and Sergio built the space together and the plants dotted around were donated by the cafe's neighbours.

Behind the coffee counter stands their barista, Quoc, a school friend of Peter's whose love for coffee began as a hobby but has now taken over from his role as a consultant in marketing and development for FinTech companies.

His role in the cafe has allowed him to have more social interactions after his work was moved online.

The desire is to grow the business organically, Peter said: "We're a local cafe we're not a huge footfall sort of space we rely on people liking us and wanting to come back but knowing that we're here because we're local."

The business are finalising their alcohol licenses with the intention to convert the cafe into a bar in the evenings.

The evening menu will include food, comprising of international small plates, "a bit like the eclectic-ness of the cafe, it's kind of a mix of foods that go well with a drink. It's about enjoying being together and enjoying the space," Peter said.

Sergio grew up in Venezuela, his father is Mexican and his mother Italian, Peter spent time in Korea and China.

Sergio told us their aim is "to bring the highlights from each country or region and bring it here [the cafe]."

The cafe originally used suppliers for their baked goods but have since finished a commercial kitchen in the basement of the property to produce almost everything in house.

The business is being built on "real genuine feedback", Peter told Nub News, they want to listen to their customers and grow from there.

Sergio said: "Everything we do here is super exciting for me and we're trying to give that experience back to the customer."

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