First Look: Patricia’s Second Cafe Proves the Original Concept Was Bang-On

The debate lasted for years and years. Pip Heath and Bowen Holden couldn’t decide whether to stay small or expand their Hot Listed coffee institution Patricia, which has drawn a loyal crowd to Little William Street since late 2011. This while contemporaries like Market Lane have grown to as many as 10 locations.

But now, finally, the duo has opened a second Patricia in the former Black Eagle Hotel on Lonsdale Street, a heritage building that dates back to 1850.

“For the last 15 years we often discussed whether we should open a second location,” Heath says. “Our conclusion was always the same: we didn’t want to risk spreading ourselves too thin or compromising the hospitality that makes Patricia special.”

Their hesitation makes sense if you’ve been to the original. Patricia’s never just been about coffee. The room is tiny, the line usually spills out the door, yet the service remains unusually generous. Staff read the mood, remember faces and make even the quickest stop feel personal. That atmosphere was the one thing Heath and Holden were unwilling to dilute.

“Our service is about creating a vibrant space where people are the focus and every interaction matters,” Holden says. “Regardless of how busy we are, we want people to feel like they’re being hosted at a house party.”

The new cafe gives that idea more room to move. Patricia Lonsdale keeps a familiar bar-style layout, but adds an adjoining room designed to feel a little like standing around a kitchen bench. It’s recognisably Patricia, though less compressed, with the kind of warmth that suits a longer pause rather than a quick in-and-out coffee run between meetings.

The espresso machine is the same – a La Marzocco Strada – as is the policy of serving nothing but single-origin coffees, usually washed. The choices rotate every few months, but right now there’s a chocolatey Santa Isabel from Guatemala and a fruitier Silvino Sanchez from Peru on espresso, and a delicate Ethiopian coffee on batch.

The larger space has also brought back single-serve pour-over coffee, which disappeared from the original site in the early days. Little William Street still focuses on batch-brewed filter, but Lonsdale Street can showcase other coffees one cup at a time – two different Colombian coffees, at the moment. For a business that has its own Coburg roastery now, that extra capacity matters.

The fit-out comes from Hecker Guthrie, led by Samuel McIntyre, a former Patricia staff member. Builders Westmark Building Group, alongside Andy Ryan and Illogical Study on joinery and fabrication, helped shape the space around the peculiar character of the old pub. Heath and Holden say picking the site was one of the most significant decisions in the project. The building, with all its age and texture, already suited their idea of Patricia as a kind of house party.

There are smaller nods to the original, too. On Little William Street, customers have long perched on milk crates outside with their coffee. Lonsdale Street doesn’t offer the same quiet patch of footpath, so the team hung a 1950s steel milk crate above the door instead.

“One of the most rewarding parts of this opening has been reuniting with regular customers who’ve moved to this end of the city,” Heath says.

Patricia Lonsdale Street
Shop 15/50 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne
No phone

Hours
Mon to Fri 7am–4pm

patriciacoffee.com.au