Honouring the story of Melbourne’s famous Pellegrini’s Espresso Bar

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TRANSCRIPT
For fans of great coffee in Melbourne, the name Pellegrini’s provokes an instantly recognisable sensation.
Formed in the mid-1950s by migrant brothers Leo and Vildo Pellegrini, the Espresso Bar was their way of bringing a sense of home to their new lives in Australia.
The bar was taken over in 1974 by Sisto Malaspina and Nino Pangrazio, with Sisto’s son David taking the reigns a few years later.
Speaking to SBS Italian, Mr Malaspina talks about his first memories in the cafe.
“The offices are upstairs so I’d been taken upstairs where the lovely ladies used to make beautiful apple strudel, which we still do the same way. So I’d be there with the ladies, who were pouring apples and everything and, as a kid, you see an apple there and you help yourself to all the apples and sultanas and everything that’s on the go.”
Shortly after it was established, Pellegrini’s began to gain popularity with the Melburnians, not only because of its products, but also thanks to its welcoming environment.
David Malaspina explains that for his dad, the wellbeing of his clients was a priority.
He says that’s the secret that has kept many of them coming back throughout the years.
“Daddo was always, always the customers came first. And it’s amazing to see even now, the people that come in and say ‘Oh, I remember your father and this was my son when he was your age and now he’s got kids and families,’ and there’s one particular family where we’re up to the fifth generation that have come in. So the great-great-grandparents, then the grandparents, etc… Now they’ve come in with a little baby. And it’s just absolutely special that one small coffee shop on the edge, that has remained traditional, still invokes these wonderful feelings and it’s like a sense of homecoming for people.”
An event will be held at the Williamstown Italian Social Club to honour one of the bar’s longtime employees, barista Rocco Elice who has retired after 50 years of service.
Attendees will have the chance to get a sneak peek at a new documentary, created by one of the Pellegrini Bar’s most common visitors, Rob Gabriel.
The documentary is set to present a number of untold stories from other longtime clients of the establishment.
Mr Gabriel tells SBS Italian about when the idea came to him to create the film.
“After covid, something hit and said ‘geez, there’s a story to be told here.’ And then, as of late the last couple of years, I said we really got to do something here, riding almost everyday to Pellegrini’s, getting my coffee, I kept saying to myself, I wish I could do a doco here. How could I do it? How could that be possible? But it needs to be told. So really about two years ago, I think.”
Actor and director Frank Lotito, who also worked on the project with Mr Gabriel and is set to attend the event at Williamstown, says it was crucial to get the green light from Mr Malaspina before going forward.
“It’s a story about an institution obviously and something we’ve all grown up with but, ultimately, it is a personal story. It’s about his family, it’s about the legacy that they’ve left behind, so we just wanted to do the right thing and get David’s blessing and he said no problem.”
Speaking about their work on the soon-to-be-revealed documentary, Mr Gabriel says it felt as if everything happened naturally.
He says he felt fortunate to be able to find and speak to many of the former employees at Pellegrini’s, who had lots of interesting stories to share.
“You know when some things falls into place and you think, how did I get here, you have a dream and you think, how did I get here, I look around what’s happening and it’s either a dream come true or I’m dreaming. And I think a dream come true is probably the way I would phrase it. There are people that I’m speaking to, ladies in their 90’s like Emma, who was the human dishwasher, she was known as, She was there for almost 50 years. She’s the female version of Rocco that not many really know about. She worked about 12 years with the Pellegrini brothers, in the early days, and then about 37 years with obviously David’s dad (Sisto) and Nino. So, she’s in her 90’s now and I speak to her once a week.”
He also recalls a story about one of the founding members of Pellegrini’s, Leo, who had passed away shortly after they started working on the documentary.
Mr Gabriel says that although they weren’t able to talk to the man himself, they located a woman who had interviewed him a few years ago.
He says the woman had a device that she used to record her interview with Mr Pellegrini which remained unused in one of her drawers for over fifteen years.
“So here I am in Ballarat, trying to get this device to work. There’s a book that she wrote. She goes I’m not sure how we can get it go. I needed a cable, the cable she didn’t have, I was running around Ballarat for three hours looking for this special cable. (laughs) This is true, the other week. I find this cable, one hanging in a shop, I go back to the house, still doesn’t work, we needed a special computer, we went to an office that she had, finally got it to go. Four hours later, this device comes alive. Five minutes later, I’m listening to Leo talking from 2009. An interview that goes for an hour and a half about his life story at Pellegrini’s. So I’m very lucky and very honoured.”
The current owner of the establishment, David, says it’s more than likely people will reveal some great incidents that occurred at Pellegrini’s throughout the years in the upcoming documentary.
He gives an example of his own.
“It’s interesting to hear all these stories and all these tales that come out. And people come out of the woodwork and tell you all these stories. One particular gentleman that actually lives in my area – I’ll say hi to Phil if he’s listening – he used to work around at the Prince’s Theatre. And he brought a group of friends in, going back, I think it was the 60s. And he goes, I’m going to take you to Pellegrini’s for fuzzy ice-cream. Fuzzy? And that’s how they described gelato.”
The Melbourne community came together to show their support to the beloved bar’s owners in 2018, when David’s father and previous owner Sisto was killed in an attack on Bourke Street.
People left flowers and condolence messages in front of the cafe for days, signifying its importance for the locals.
David Malaspina says he’s honoured that he’s had the chance to meet so many people through his work and be a part of their everyday lives.
“It’s just an honour and a privilege to have these people come in every day and them be a part of your life but you’re also a part of theirs. And then, through nature and the way that it works is that they bring their friends and family and you end up meeting all these like-minded, just really nice people that come through and you end up having a relationship with them. That’s how we met Rob ((Gabriel) as well. But it’s just one of those ongoing snowball things where nice people come in and you have a chat and you find different interests and the lovely thing for me is that, while I’m in service, I can jump in-and-out of conversations with different people.”