Mesa Haus Brings Hand-Whisked Matcha and Beautiful Homewares to Paddington

Mesa Collections, Trishia Mariano’s design, lifestyle and hospitality brand, began in Sydney with a line of homewares centred on colourful table linens and silverware. Over the years, it expanded into cafe pop-ups, workshops and supper clubs. Now, it’s landing permanently in Brisbane with an open-ended new cafe and co-working concept.

“I grew up on the Gold Coast, but I’ve always been really drawn to the pace of Brisbane and how community-driven it is,” Mariano says. “Brisbane is growing very quickly and there’s an interesting mix of people coming here and creating their own things. I would love Mesa Haus to become a part of that.”

With a background in hospitality, Mariano had long been drawn to versatile and beautiful homewares, but it wasn’t until Covid that she began sewing her own pieces. Shortly after, she started Dinner With Strangers, an intimate supper club hosted in her Sydney apartment, where strangers gathered around a table to share food made by chefs and culinary creatives.

Mesa Haus is the next iteration of that experiment. Housed in an old residential property in Paddington, it’s part cafe, part design shop, part co-working space and, soon, part supper club. Brought to life with help from Melbourne architects We Are Humble, the cosy space has a simple, Scandinavian-style fit-out with indoor and outdoor cafe seating, and shelves of Mesa Collections products to browse.

For now, it’s quietly operating as a cafe, with a grand opening set for September 18. Eventually, half of the space will host a creative residency program in a private co-working area. Creatives and “solopreneurs” can apply to share a communal desk and collaborate. “We want the creative residents to come in and define the space,” Mariano says. “Right now, there’s no set definition or expectations of what that looks like.”

The cafe is serving coffee from Melbourne’s Code Black – including cold brew and hot batch brew on tap – and baked goods are by Sprout. There’s also matcha and hojicha, including iced versions with vanilla sea salt and ube cold foams.

Longer term, Trishia has her sights set on turning Mesa Haus into a wine bar by night, with guest chef takeovers, supper clubs and collaborative events bringing the spirit of Dinner With Strangers into a permanent home.

“I’ve always wanted to do something that combines design, hosting and bringing community together,” she says. “The [Sydney] pop-ups were a test of that idea, and I found that a lot of communities are looking for a space where they can be creative, have food on the table and be around beautiful things.”

Mesa Haus
33 Latrobe Terrace, Paddington

Hours
Mon to Fri 7am–1pm
Sat & Sun 7.30am–1pm

@mesahaus.space