Dream worth keeping: Wellington East’s only cafe reopens
Exclusive: The Hall Cafe is about to reopen under new owners – a big milestone for a township which doesn’t have any other shops or eateries.
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For Patti and Adz Matos, the reopening of the Hall Café at Wellington East isn’t just the start of a new business.
It’s the fulfilment of a dream built over many years, and one they hope to share with the whole community.
The couple first discovered the township while travelling home from a Superbikes race at Phillip Island, in Victoria.
The passionate motorcyclists instantly fell in love with the River Murray, its welcoming communities and what the region had to offer.
It wasn’t long before they had bought a home and married at Jervois after spending more than 25 years together.
They began restoring an old hut on their property.
While searching for restoration ideas, they visited the Hall Café at Wellington East to admire the restoration completed by the previous owners.
That’s when Ms Matos’ lifelong dream came rushing back.
“I walked through the doors and thought, ‘I’d love to own a place like this one day,” she said.
“I kept telling Adz, ‘This is it, this feels right.’”
When the café unexpectedly came onto the market during the 2022-23 floods – complete with a temporary lake view – they took a leap of faith.
Unfortunately for the couple, soon after, both lost their jobs, forcing them to rethink everything.
“It was one of the hardest periods of our lives,” Mr Matos said.
“We had to decide what really mattered.
“The café stayed because it wasn’t just a business – it was Patti’s dream, and now it’s our future.”
Ms Matos, who has Chilean heritage, and her husband, whose family is Portuguese and Italian, want the Hall Café to become, once again, a true community meeting place.
Unless you count the marina or the council-owned and volunteer-run Pangarinda Botanic Garden, the cafe is the only public-facing business in what is one of the Coorong district’s fastest-growing residential areas.
“The Hall Café truly belongs to the community as much as it does to us,” Ms Matos said.
“Our soft opening is all about meeting people, hearing their ideas and growing together.”
Ms Matos is especially excited about developing the cafe’s gardens and building a close relationship with Pangarinda, drawing inspiration from native plants and exploring local Indigenous ingredients in future menu ideas.
Mr Matos’ passion is motorcycles.
Having owned more than 80 bikes – including his treasured Aprilia and Kawasaki Ninja SX – he believes the region is a hidden gem for riders.
Just minutes away, the Bend Motorsport Park has earned an international reputation as one of Australia’s premier motorsport destinations, attracting major national and international racing events on its world-class circuit.
Perhaps more riders and enthusiasts can be encouraged to pass through Wellington East on their way there and back.
The Hall Café will have a soft opening next Friday, July 17, and open on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays after that.
All locals are warmly invited to call in, enjoy a meal, share their thoughts and help bring a much-loved local gathering place back to life.
“We want to honour what came before us, and together with the community, write the next chapter,” Ms Matos said.
Wellington East had a population of almost 300 at the last census, a number which will no doubt have grown by the time residents are counted again on August 11.
The Coorong council has projected that its population could reach as many as 900 or more over the next 25 years in a high-growth scenario.
The hall was originally built as a chapel in 1901.
