The death of Sisto Malaspina, co-owner of the iconic Pellegrini's Espresso Bar, has sent shock waves through Melbourne and beyond, with citizens, politicians and celebrities paying tribute online and in front of his café.
Melbourne's Italian community has remembered the restaurateur during recent SBS Italian radio broadcasts. These accounts have expressed the deep sorrow of his loss, and remembered Malaspina's ability to make everyone feel at home.
"Sisto Malaspina has been an iconic figure of our community, everyone knew him, everyone liked him, he was a figure that expressed the soul of the community”, said Italian Consul Pierluigi Trombetta, remembering Malaspina's fundamental contributions to Melbourne's café culture.
Former Victorian MP for Brunswick Carlo Carli told SBS Italian that he used to go to Pellegrini's when he was attending the State Parliament.
"Every time I went in he'd ask me, ‘how is politics going?’, even though I don't think he was that interested. But there were many politicians who were regulars at the bar, I don't know how many discussions took place there… Malaspina was always there, friendly”.
Malaspina enjoyed the fact that Carli could speak Italian with him, and the former MP joked that he wonders if Malaspina ever slept, since he seemed to be always at work.
"I don't know if he slept at all, because when you went into the café he was always there! He was one of those Italians who never retire, because that in a way was his home," said Carli.
Many Italians remember visiting Pellegrini's when they first arrived in Australia. It's an experience shared by Laura Mecca, former director of Melbourne's Italian Historical Society (Società Storica Italiana del COASIT di Melbourne).
“The first time, when we had just arrived from Italy in 1970, it was some Australian friends who took us to Pellegrini’s, and since then we have been regulars," Mecca told SBS Italian. “I will remember Sisto for his good heart, his soul, his Italian-ness, and because he gave happy moments to all of us who went there even just for a few minutes and a coffee on the run - an espresso in fact.”
But Mecca also underlined the very special relationship between Sisto Malaspina and his business partner Nino Pangrazio. It is a rare example in the hospitality sector, she said, as they shared 40 years of work together, more two brothers than business partners.
"A 40-year partnership in a business is rare, they were like brothers,” noted Mecca.
Opera Australia's artistic director Lyndon Terracini first met Malaspina in 1976 as a singer. At the time he was singing at Princess Theatre, just around the corner from Pellegrini's, and he used to spend his breaks there.
"I drank my first espresso at Pellegrini's", he recalled, adding that Malaspina was always keen to talk about music, always engaging and simpaticissimo - incredibly kind.
SBS Italian's own Davide Schiappapietra also remembers that he felt an instant connection with Malaspina when he first came to Australia, and the café owner almost seemed to take him under his wing, offering him advice and free coffees while he was finding his feet in a city which was new to him.
Tributes have also come from Italians who have only visited Melbourne briefly: Senia called into SBS Italian from Italy to recount how she met Sisto Malaspina after having seen a documentary about him online. When she told him she'd come to see him in person he served her a special lunch and categorically refused any payment.
Senia says that Malaspina had the ability to make any customer feel at home in his café: "He treated everyone like a star."
These words echo Malaspina's family's own statement, a measure of the spirit that touched so many people and so many lives.
