A coffee machine burbles, the smell of freshly-ground beans fill the air: it's like so many other mornings at the popular Melbourne cafe, except a star attraction is missing.
Sisto Malaspina's bar stool stands empty, facing a burning candle, a folded newspaper and one of his favourite long black coffees on the counter.
Four days after the 74-year-old was slaughtered during a terror attack on a nearby city street, crowds gathered on Tuesday for the reopening of his Pellegrini's Espresso Bar.
Among those paying tribute was Prime Minister Scott Morrison.
He urged locals to remember Mr Malaspina and his smile rather than the violence of his death.
"It is the hope of his life that completely transcends the evilness of how it was taken from him and from us," Mr Morrison said
"The Sisto smile is the best thing to project back to those who would seek to take that smile from us."
Mr Malaspina was killed and two other men were injured on Friday when when 30-year-old Hassan Khalif Shire Ali drove a burning ute into the city and launched a knife attack.
Police shot the knife man who later died in hospital.
The other victims, a 24-year-old security guard and Tasmanian businessman Robert Patterson, 58, were released from hospital on Monday and Tuesday respectively.
When the cafe's doors opened at 8am on Tuesday, people were already waiting outside, including many who had been touched by Mr Malaspina's kind gestures.
Many traded stories of how the restaurateur was always keen for a chat, and some people shed a tear.
Free long blacks were offered to customers throughout the day.
"It's been a good experience, a strange experience. I see today as the beginning of the celebration of Sisto's life. You can only cry so much," his nephew Rob Cecchini told AAP.
"I'm sure he would have wanted us all to do just that - celebrate his life."
The family has accepted the offer of a state funeral, and Premier Daniel Andrews confirmed the service will be held at East Melbourne's St Patrick's Cathedral next Tuesday.
"That's a fitting way for us to celebrate a very special life - the life of a beautiful man who was very generous and speaks to the identity of our city, our cafe culture, our warmth, our generosity of spirit," Mr Andrews said.
"We will celebrate this life on Bourke Street at his funeral, not his death on Bourke Street."
The family has been overwhelmed by the response to Mr Malaspina's death, with piles of flowers left outside the cafe.
They have asked that donations to the Salvation Army are made in lieu of any further floral tributes.
Mr Malaspina had co-owned Pellegrini's since 1974 and the man with a "flamboyant personality" and venue became Melbourne icons.
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