Golden light poured through the arch windows at St Patrick’s Cathedral as thousands of Melburnians turned out to bid farewell to much-loved Italian restauranteur Sisto Malaspina.
An Australian flag was draped over the coffin of the Pellegrini’s Espresso Bar co-owner, along with a mound of roses arranged in the colours of the Italian flag.
Malaspina was stabbed to death in a terror attack on Bourke Street earlier this month, after Hassan Khalif Shire Ali, 30, set fire to a ute and went on a knife rampage.
But a colourful life well lived, was the focus of his state funeral.
Malaspina’s son David described his father as a hard-working, charismatic family man who toiled 14-15-hour days because he loved all his customers like friends.
“Dad had the amazing ability to make everybody feel special,” he said.
Malaspina had taught his children old-fashioned values, good manners, to treat everyone equally and that smiles cost nothing.
David said his father and migrants like him had helped make Melbourne the best city in the world: “These people bring their dreams with them in search of a better life.
“Melbourne is a melting pot of all these cultures, making Melbourne magical.”
Malaspina was born in a small town in Italy, the youngest of six children. He moved to Australia to start a new life in 1963.
With his friend Nino Pangrazio, Malaspina took over Pellegrini’s in 1974 and turned it into an Melbourne institution.
Trucking magnate Lindsay Fox dubbed the pair “pepper and salt” and spoke of a friendship spanning almost seven decades.
“I can honestly say the world is a better place for having Sisto in it. He was one of the greats,” Fox said. “Farewell, old buddy. I’ll miss you.”
It’s generally taboo to start stripping off during a church service. But for businessman Harold Mitchell, discarding his black blazer and tie for a canary yellow jacket and a blue cravat was a fitting tribute to his late friend’s flamboyant fashion sense.
“I know right now Sisto would be saying: ‘Mr Mitchell what’s with the tie and the black suit?’” Mitchell said, performing a costume change to a rousing applause.
Mitchell described taking the former prime minister Kevin Rudd to Pellegrini’s for an after-dinner coffee when Rudd was foreign minister.
“Pellegrini’s was the United Nations,” Mitchell said.
There were red hearts at the front of the church with the words nonno (Italian for grandfather) and papa written in white roses.
On a table near the coffin sat an Essendon Bombers AFL scarf, an espresso cup, a Jimmy Fontana Il Mondo record and a piano accordion.
Opera Australia singers performed hymns at the service, because Malaspina was an an aficionado and regularly travelled interstate to see performances.
The Victorian governor, Linda Dessau, said for many people a visit to Pellegrini’s was like taking a time machine to the 1950s, but for her it was a return to her own migrant childhood.
She recounted her favourite treat as a youngster – stopping in for cake, pasta or a bowl of gelato while her parents enjoyed a real coffee from one of the first espresso machines in Melbourne.
“When someone called ‘ciao’ to a patron on their way back out to the bustle of Bourke Street, it just seemed so exotic back then,” Dessau said, adding she and her husband had started their married life with a coffee at Pellegrini’s the morning after their wedding.
Among other dignitaries in attendance were the opposition leader, Bill Shorten, the Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, and his counterpart Matthew Guy.
Malaspina is survived by his wife Vicki, children David and Lisa and baby granddaughter Sofia.
Reverend monsignor Greg Bennet said Malaspina’s customers would always cherish their hospitality experiences long after the espresso cup was left on the counter.
“A cup of coffee, served with joy, with warmth, humour and concern can truly make the world a better place,” Bennet said.