Having had a history at the old Coonanbarra Café as a Head Chef in 1992 to 1995, Stewart and Hilary Wallace recognised the opportunity that the old site has had as an established café and the need of refurbishing and rebirthing as a new business with a new contemporary look and feel, beautifully furnished and redesigned, the space could once again be a successful unpretentious café serving modern Australian café food.
After consultation with the land lords and established long time Coonanbarra Café founders and operators Rod and Robyn McClure a new vision was born.
The name Patina came to us as an easy, simple, catchy name which suits and sounds good for a restaurant; upon further research, we could see an obvious synergy with the meaning behind the word patina and the wonderful history the site has had as a successful cafe for over 25 years, in its 132-year life as a Sir John Sulman designed, heritage listed property which over its time has had many different uses. The building simply oozes patina!!