In the heart of Melbourne’s specialty coffee scene, Patricia has been quietly setting the standard for what it means to run a café with heart. Now celebrating 14 years, Patricia’s success story is built on consistency, care, and a vision for creating an experience that goes far beyond the cup.
Bowen Holden and Pip Heath started it all with a simple idea: to serve coffee with intention which has since grown into a benchmark for hospitality and consistency.
Just off Little Bourke St, in Melbourne’s busy legal and business district, Patricia has become an icon. The steady line of customers are always greeted with a present and genuine connection. Like a tiny bar without booze inside, and laneway crates outside, city workers, coffee enthusiasts, tourists and simplicity seekers alike flow in and out, all united in sharing a premium hospitality moment.
“It’s like a little holiday, like being away from your desk for half an hour, at a place that’s seeing you for you – making sure there is a connection there but also some element of enchantment.”
Pip Heath, Director, Patricia
Behind the bar, Patricia relies on equipment that matches their philosophy: simple, ergonomic, and built for consistency and reliability.
We are proud to work in collaboration with Patricia proving that, with the right tools, service flows effortlessly. Patricia’s partnership with La Marzocco is built on trust, reliability, and support beyond the bar.
“The equipment working seamlessly is extremely important and really means it helps people do their job easily and they’re not held back by the equipment.”
Bowen Holden, Director, Patricia
To deliver that regularity in quality, Pip and Bowen chose the La Marzocco Strada S three-group espresso machine. The team values its open group heads, ergonomic design, and volumetric programming that minimizes the risk of errors in a high-volume environment. In their words, it blends seamlessly into the workflow, never causing disruption and always delivering consistency. Pip said “The Strada S is a really good fit for our (high volume) workflow, because it does its job and allows the staff to focus on the customer, which is what we see as much more important than anything else.”
Pip and Bowen are in the process of designing a new space at the top of Lonsdale Street and keen to equal the coffee bar workflow, attention to detail and customer experience to the original café. We are humbled to continue working with and supporting Patricia to ensure their hospitality offering is always more than the sum of its parts.
Bowen highlights “Connecting with La Marzocco has been amazing. We’re very particular about the details of things, so being able to communicate those to La Marzocco and feel heard – that relationship is really important for us.”
If you’d like to learn more about how the Strada S could elevate your coffee offering, our team would love to hear from you.
