A Sydney Culinary Destination Where Coffee Is Only Part of the Story
How a former warehouse site became a pastoral escape with animals, gardens, and a serious coffee program—and why its founders say great coffee alone is not enough in Australia.
By Harper Parker3 min read
From Warehouse to Wonderland
On the site of what was once a warehouse and parking lot in an industrial part of Sydney, a nearly one-acre culinary destination now flourishes. The property is lush with gardens growing vegetables, herbs, fruits, and flowers. A resident pig named Kevin Bacon may be on hand to greet visitors, and chickens, goats, and sheep can be spotted while guests wander the manicured grounds with a latte in hand, deciding among the café, restaurant, and barbecue options.
The plants and animals are not there to compensate for poor coffee or inattentive table service. They form part of a broader experience conceived by the entrepreneurial duo Jack Hanna and Ramzey Choker. Hanna began his coffee career as a teenager, trained in Canada, and later returned to Australia to compete on the barista circuit. After winning the 2007 World Latte Art Championship, he launched his own coffee label. He met Choker along the way, and their friendship grew into a business partnership.
A Plan That Changed Mid-Build
The venue opened in April 2012. Its initial design had no animals and no gardens. The original concept was a mid-sized café to showcase the coffee and supply wholesale to other cafés in the area. During construction, though, Choker approached Hanna with a new idea. "I have a nervous shudder whenever he says, 'I have an idea,'" Hanna recalls of his alarm when Choker first proposed turning the old parking area into a garden and adding chickens. Hanna agreed, and the pair never looked back. "It turned out honestly to be one of the best things we've ever done."
Guests at the Grounds are greeted by Kevin Bacon, the pig in residence.
Hanna explains that Australian coffee culture is so strong that great coffee and great food alone are not sufficient to launch a successful business. "We wanted to provide something else. And that something else was an experience." The partners used the large footprint they had acquired—a rarity in the city—to convert the old industrial warehouse into a pastoral retreat.
Coffee, Food, and a Garden Setting
Visitors can drink coffee roasted on site alongside dishes that incorporate produce picked from the gardens. The Potting Shed, the property's restaurant, serves cocktails, three-course meals, and small plates. The Garden, a more relaxed dining area, offers fresh juices, Australian-style barbecue, and pizzas baked in a clay silo.
The coffee operation includes roasting and education facilities. Two twelve-kilo Probat roasters currently meet demand for both the café and wholesale accounts, while a nearby warehouse handles production for outside customers. The café provides full table service at breakfast and lunch. A customized and rebuilt 1971 La Marzocco GS three-group machine, work done by Espresso Parts, handles drink orders on the stay-in side, supported by Mazzer Robur and Mythos One grinders. A three-group Synchro anchors the takeaway side, where guests can order drinks to carry while exploring the property. A filter coffee bar lets customers choose from Oji cold-drip towers, Aeropress, Kalita Waves, and a Steampunk.
Inside the Propagation Room at the Grounds.
Quality Coffee Within a Larger Experience
Although coffee was the founding plan, the overall visit is clearly as important as the cup. "We still bid on the Best of Panama auctions and we still buy direct," Hanna says. "We still want to focus on amazing quality and amazing things that we serve—that's just part of the bigger experience." He notes that many cafés become absorbed in the details of extraction and roasting and forget that customers want coffee that tastes good without a fifteen-minute wait. "People are so focused on detail that they miss the big picture."
That big picture remains central for the team. A dedicated staff member moves around the property solely to talk with guests, ask about their visit, and share information about what the venue offers. Visitors can also take educational classes in cooking, gardening, and coffee. "Because our coffee culture is so strong in Australia, we have the most amount of domestic coffee machine sales in the world," Hanna says. "We try and teach people how to make a great coffee at home."
Expansion and an Evolving Approach
A new café is slated to open in downtown Sydney. Hanna says the team prefers to let the business evolve through innovation rather than spend time planning. "Great food and great coffee, ambience, and smells, and sounds—we touch upon every element to make someone's experience here at the Grounds really unique and memorable."
