Dipping into a café, you might pick up a pastry alongside a coffee, but Hobart’s Pigeon Whole Bakers is shifting that narrative.
“Our early idea was to be known as a bakery, not a coffee shop or café. We wanted people to come in and order a pastry and maybe think ‘while I’m here, maybe I’ll get a coffee’,” Company Director Jay Patey says.
“People will subconsciously go somewhere for a coffee and maybe get a pastry as an add on, but we wanted to flip that and be really ingrained for being a bakery. Originally, we just served filter coffee. That still has a very strong following and we sell a lot of it alongside our espresso.”
Although using high-quality, locally roasted beans from Villino Coffee Roasters alongside guest roast beans including Market Lane and Seven Seas, Pigeon Whole has maintained its status as a high-quality bakery that happens to have high-quality coffee to boot.
Its most popular bakery creation is an indulgent delight made with croissant pastry, cinnamon, cardamom, and local honey simply named ‘the morning bun’.
Alongside its typical pastry and sandwich offerings, the morning bun ensures customers keep coming back to Pigeon Whole, whether they’re locals from Hobart or interstate travellers.
“The morning bun is my favourite pastry. Even before I was working for Pigeon Whole I was coming in to grab one for breakfast,” Retail Manager Mari Tomoshige says.
“It’s lovely and caramelised at the bottom, but it’s still nice and flaky with a real richness in the middle. It’s everyone’s favourite and I always recommend it.
“It’s uniquely Tasmanian as well since we use Lake Pedder Nectar Honey from Miellerie Honey. The bun is well balanced with the cardamom, then when you get to the centre it’s more unctuous and gooier. It’s delicious.”
With an entire storefront made from glass, customers can see exactly what goes into preparing every sandwich and pastry for the day.
“We have a visibility and transparency where people can see into the kitchen and watch our pastries being made from scratch, and it’s a nice process for our customers,” Jay says.
“That visibility is quite powerful. Yes, we’re selling coffee, bread, and pastries, but we’ve got an amazing team that delivers our whole ecosystem around customer service so well.”
Pigeon Whole Bakers
24-32 Argyle Street, Hobart
Tasmania, 7000
Open Monday to Friday 7:30am to 3pm, Saturday and Sunday 7:30am to 1pm
This article appears in the June 2025 edition of BeanScene. Subscribe HERE.
