The minds behind Victoria's Hutch & Co.
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The minds behind Victoria's Hutch & Co.
Where coffee and contemporary style meet.
This contemporary wine country café is bringing fine food and serious coffee to the foothills of the Yarra Valley. We catch up with Hutch & Co owners ROB SALHA and NICHOLAS PANAGOPOULOS to talk all things coffee, consistency and company.
Tell us a little about Hutch & Co.
When the property became available, we fell in love with the front facade and the history that was embedded within. We immediately knew that we had the ability to tell a story around the old Hutchinson’s Store. The more research we did around the Hutchinson family, the more impressed we were by the legacy they had left behind. This encouraged us to build a venue that the locals could be proud of. Today, Hutch and Co is a fun and playful venue that welcomes anyone and everyone. We wanted to fuse the modernity of an inner-city cafe with good old humble service.
How did you get into coffee?
We drank lots of it!
What do you look for in the perfect cup?
It is all about the extraction. From the moment the coffee leaves the group head, we look for a consistent pour. We extract every single shot manually to ensure that this occurs.
What made you want to open your own café/roastery?
Our passion for hospitality inspired us to create a place where people could escape, relax and have fun. Having worked in the city for a long time as an accountant and Nick in marketing, we were surrounded by Melbourne’s growing coffee culture. The seed was planted and, from there, our appreciation for coffee, food and service grew so rapidly that we left the daily grind to pursue something we truly loved.
Is this your first venture?
Hutch & Co is our second venture and plans for expansion are well underway.
Who designed the fit-out?
Our good friend Jean Pierre Biasol from Biasol: Design Studio.
What is your coffee philosophy?
Consistency, consistency, consistency.
What makes your blend unique?
We are lucky enough to roast our own coffee and we only use specialty-grade beans. We spent quite a few months cupping different beans from different countries before settling on our flavour profile.
Biggest coffee pet hate?
Adding too many teaspoons of sugar and losing the flavour of coffee.
From where do you source your beans?
Mars, Jupiter and Pluto.
Finish this sentence: Coffee is best served…with good company.
Photography by Ari Hatzis