A café that welcomes all walks of life, Stefanino Panino in Collingwood Yards is an eclectic and vibrant spot to sip a coffee and grab a bite.
What originally opened as a ‘hole in the wall’ panino shop in Lygon Street, Brunswick East, has relocated to a permanent home in the neighbouring suburb of Collingwood.
Owner Stef Condello is relatively new to Melbourne’s café scene. Pivoting from a career in education, he found COVID was his “catalyst for change”.
“I’m a primary school teacher by qualification. I taught for seven years, two as a year level coordinator before I made the move after the lockdowns,” says Stef.
“I began a short stint in a long-standing, high-quality butcher shop. Using the skills I gained there, I opened the first iteration of Stefanino Panino on a shoestring budget.”
With commission housing at the end of the street, as well as a multimillion-dollar inner city development around the corner, the café welcomes a wide variety of customers – from artists, locals, and tourists to boomers and zoomers.
“We love the variety of people that visit, we get a bit of everything,” he says.
The menu focuses on Italian offerings with an Australian spin, with panini and coffee by day and a variety of small plates and wine by night.
“I’m proud to be an Italian Australian. Too often I see the American/Sopranos Italian thing happening in Australia, which gives me second-hand embarrassment,” says Stef. “I try to keep as far away from that vibe as possible.”
When it first started in Brunswick, the café only offered black filter coffee.
“Now we have a full espresso setup. Genovese is our sole coffee supplier and we now have three milk options,” he says.
With the oat latte the most popular order among customers, Stefanino Panino uses Minor Figures’ Barista Oat to pair with its house blend.
“Minor Figures was recommended to us by Emilio Genovese from Genovese Coffee, so we started to use them,” says Stef.
“We’ve found working with them smooth and easy – whenever we need anything, they are super responsive. We only use their oat milk in our café and we’re very happy with it.”
Stefanino Panino
Collingwood Yards, Unit 4/30 Perry Street
Collingwood, Victoria, 3066
Open Tuesday to Thursday 9am to 3.30pm, Friday 9am to 10pm, Saturday 10am to 10pm, Sunday 10am to 4pm.
This article appears in the August 2025 edition of BeanScene. Subscribe HERE.
