Code Black Coffee, Ube Cold Foam & A Creative Residency Are Coming To Paddington
Coffee, matcha, and a creative residency
By Kiri Johnston | 18th September 2026A new arrival on Latrobe Terrace is bringing Code Black coffee, ube cold foam, residential-style interiors, and a creative residency to Paddington – all within one tiny space.
Opening on 18 September, Mesa Haus brings together a neighbourhood cafe, rotating retail and co-working through The Mesa Residents. Created by Mesa Collections founder Trishia Mariano, the concept was designed as somewhere to grab your morning coffee, discover a local maker or settle in for the afternoon.
“From the beginning, I wanted Mesa Haus to feel like a space you could naturally move through rather than somewhere you simply come in, order a coffee and leave,” Mariano says. “It’s a tiny space, so we had to be really intentional about what we put into it and how we wanted people to experience it.”
More than a morning coffee
Coffee, retail and co-working may sound like three separate offerings, but at Mesa Haus, each serves a purpose. The coffee draws people in, the rotating retail offering gives visitors the chance to discover something new, and The Mesa Residents creates a reason to stay.
“We wanted it to feel like one ecosystem rather than a cafe with a retail corner and desks squeezed into the back,” Mariano says. “Everything has been considered in relation to the whole space.”
Coffee remains at the centre, with Melbourne roaster Code Black behind the beans. The menu introduces a playful side through housemade syrups and drinks, including ube cold foam and banana matcha, balancing familiar daily orders with flavours that give the cafe its own point of view. The ube syrup is made from scratch, simmered with condensed milk and whipped into a cold foam before being layered over cold brew. Fresh pastries from Brisbane bakery Sprout complete the daytime offering.
“We wanted the menu to have a sense of play without becoming overly complicated,” Mariano says. “The housemade syrups and small details allow us to put our own personality into something as simple as a morning coffee.
Designed more like a home
The interiors move away from the standard cafe formula. Mariano wanted the compact commercial space to carry the warmth of a home, combining natural tones, timber, stainless steel and textured surfaces with vintage-inspired furniture and contemporary pieces. With little room to spare, every shelf, seat and surface needed to earn its place. The result is calm but not overly polished, with the character of a room assembled over time.
“Nothing is there simply to fill a corner,” Mariano says. “We wanted there to be a sense of restraint, but also enough personality and imperfection to keep it from feeling too polished.”
Paddington offered the right backdrop. Its mix of locals, independent businesses and creatives already gives Latrobe Terrace a strong neighbourhood identity, while the existing architecture complements Mesa Haus’s residential approach.
“Mesa Haus was never intended to feel like it could be anywhere,” Mariano says. “We wanted it to have a relationship with its surroundings and feel like it belongs in Paddington.”
Inside the Mesa Residents
Once the cafe has settled into its new neighbourhood, Mesa Haus will introduce The Mesa Residents, a small co-working residency for creatives, founders and independent businesses. Residents will have access to a shared desk within the cafe during the day, along with the wider space outside regular trading hours. This opens the door to client meetings, small gatherings and events without turning Mesa Haus into another traditional co-working office filled with hot desks.
The program will be introduced gradually, allowing the public cafe to establish its rhythm before the residency begins. “It’s about bringing a small group of creatives, founders and independent businesses together in a space where they can work, connect and become part of the fabric of Mesa Haus,” Mariano says.
More than anything, she wants Mesa Haus to become part of Paddington’s everyday routine: somewhere the person behind the counter knows your order, you bump into a friend, or a morning coffee turns into an afternoon spent working. “We have an idea of what Mesa Haus is today, but we want it to evolve through the people who spend time there – through collaborations, events, residents, makers, and the everyday rituals that happen in the space.”
Mesa Haus officially opens at 33 Latrobe Terrace, Paddington, on 18 September 2026. The first 20 people through the door will receive a coffee on the house.
