Pellegrini’s: “love letter to Melbourne” set to screen on TV

Many Melburnians have stories about Pellegrini’s that are part of the fabric of their lives, filmmaker Frank Lotito says.

Among the stories Mr Lotito has collected is that of a visitor to Australia whose conversation with the late Sisto Malaspina convinced her to stay in Melbourne, where she married and had a family.

Another is about a 2024 wedding photo – like so many others, taken at the espresso bar – which assumed great poignancy after the bride died from cancer six months later.

For Mr Lotito, a meaningful memory he carries with him is being served a plate of lasagne at the café that soothed his broken heart.

His documentary, Pellegrini’s – A Melbourne Legacy, celebrates the 71-year-old Bourke St restaurant’s role as a place of authenticity and connection. Over the decades the venue has assumed meaning for people from all nationalities and walks of life who have turned up, been served with Italian-style hospitality and been treated as equals.

It also celebrates Pellegrini’s’ role in helping kickstart Melbourne’s love affair with coffee and the Italian fare that these days we take for granted.

In 1954 when the Pellegrini brothers established their Bourke St business you couldn’t get olive oil here and their Gaggia was one of the first coffee machines in the country.

According to Pellegrini’s’ current owner, David Malaspina, the transformation that has taken place since the arrival of the pioneers has been amazing.

“Look at what the city turned into 70-odd years later” he told CBD News.

“Melbourne’s a fantastic food hub and we export some of the world’s best baristas and produce great wine in the state.”

The film also pays tribute to a broader class of post-war immigrants who boarded ships to Australia with nothing but a suitcase and built businesses that helped develop the country and lasted for generations.

“Being of Italian descent I wanted to tell that story,” Mr Lotito said.

“It’s really a tribute to our forefathers and mothers, who came here with nothing and worked very, very hard to build something for themselves.”

The documentary has been “a labour of love” for Mr Lotito and co-producer Rob Gabriel, whose idea it was, with Mr Lotito as director shooting and editing the film himself and recording the voiceover in his loungeroom.

“It’s a tribute to Melbourne, it’s a love letter to Melbourne, because Pellegrini’s is an institution and it represents who we are as people,” he said.

The film hones in on some of Pellegrini’s long-serving staff members.

It also visits the enduring grief of Sisto Malaspino’s death in a senseless violent attack in Bourke St in 2018.

The flamboyant, kerchief-wearing restaurateur served behind the Pellegrini’s bar from 1974, when he bought the business with his friend Nino Pangrazio, until the day of his death.

Sisto, who was given a state funeral at St Patrick’s Cathedral, was held in great affection by his customers and colleagues as a joyful, generous character with a mischievous smile, ready sense of humour and a greeting and story for everyone.

In the documentary, via old interview footage, Sisto explains that he doesn’t use his head to do his job but rather his “soul”.

At a preview screening in September the Malaspina family gave Mr Lotita’s film a standing ovation, and its official launch at the Astor in December drew a crowd of more than 700.

“I think Frank and his team did a really good job,” said David Malaspina, who took over after Nino’s retirement in 2019.

“The way they pitched it was as a celebration of the impact of the Italian culture here in Melbourne, using the shop to go through all that.”

“And so many stories have come out – it’s just been brilliant.”

The long narrow café with its black and white checked lino, turquoise tiled pillar, marble bar, mirrors and bolted down stools has been described by reviewers as “a time capsule”.

But under Mr Malaspina’s management there have been some concessions to the times, with non-dairy milks and gluten free options now available.

Otherwise, the menu remains unchanged, with its soup and pastas and desserts all made fresh and largely in house.

“We do things the old-fashioned way, which takes time,” Mr Malaspina said. “We’re still cooking sauce out the back that’ll sit in big pots for hours and hours.”

Mr Malaspina, who works 80 hours a week, jokingly complains that the film’s release has created more work by attracting people to the business.

But it’s clear he loves the conversations and connections with his customers, whether they have just found the café or been coming there for decades.

“It’s just lovely to have these relationships,” he said.

“I’ve got one customer that tells me he used to bring people here in the late ‘50s for what they called ‘fuzzy ice cream’.”

“And we actually have a lot of fun at work.”

Pellegrini’s – A Melbourne Legacy will screen on SBS as well as streaming service DocPlay. •