Meet the Cavallaros and the Donninis

Among this new wave of immigration were two families: the Cavallaros, from the Sicilian island of Lipari, and the Donninis from Rome and Modena. The former established T. Cavallaro & Sons Pasticceria in Footscray in 1956, while the latter opened University Café in 1952, housing one of the city’s very first coffee machines. These two families – along with many others – introduced Melbourne not only to the joys of cannoli and espresso but to a ritual and a sense of community that has helped shape the city’s culture and provided a blueprint for so many other family businesses.

Today, these two families can both be found working at 288 Rathdowne Street. On the street level is Biscotteria, an Italian espresso bar where Joe Cavallaro continues his family’s pastry legacy with the help of his two daughters Claudine and Marcella. Upstairs, Armanda Hunter (née Donnini) and her daughters Giulia and Mattia run a pre-loved designer fashion store, Love it Longer, where they take in luxury pieces on consignment and sell them from their two-room terrace space, or via their popular Instagram account.

A slice of Italo-Australia

Similarly, downstairs at Biscotteria, the offering is much more than what’s on the menu. “I love it here,” says Jenny, a Carlton North local who visits daily for an espresso. “It’s not just the food, they’re just such wonderful people. It’s an important part of our community.” 

The interior is unpretentious and welcoming; window cabinets display trays of freshly baked cakes, pastries, focaccia and panini; Italian discussions can be heard coming from the kitchen. It’s as Italian as it gets, but you don’t have to show your passport upon entry: “We’re lucky to be well-placed, so it’s easy access for a lot of the Italian-Australian community, but over and above that, the Australian community, we service our locals.” says Tony Nicolini, Joe Cavallaro’s son-in-law who plays an active role in the business.

Filling your cup

As one of the original founders of D.O.C (a Carlton-born institution of Italian gastronomy), Tony has himself played an integral role in forging Melbourne’s Italian identity. “Whilst [Biscotteria] is a pastry shop it’s very much an espresso bar,” he explains. “The espresso bar is Italy’s cultural gift to the rest of the world… The experience of coffee is so much more than what you find in a cup, it’s that two or three minutes of banter, with your barista, with the people operating your local café… That's what the corner espresso bar was built on, the premise that it's not just a transaction… you're also coming to be a part of something, a part of a community, an extended family."

Public service announcement

Percy Pearson ran his eponymous ironmongery at 378 Rathdowne Street for fifty years. A radio enthusiast, when the first radios not requiring headphones became available, he mounted a loudspeaker outside the shop and relayed an Ashes match for the whole street’s enjoyment. Terry O’Rourke, a local who would go on to eventually take over the business, recalls the crowd that gathered was enough to hold up the cable trams. 

Today, this sense of camaraderie and community lives on. Phil Sherring, a local, has assumed the role of resident parking inspector. He goes and checks the tyres on the cars of local business owners to see if they have been marked with chalk and alerts the merchants. “If we get a parking ticket we put it on Phil's account,” jokes Frank Siliato, co-owner of Rathdowne Deli, the business that has occupied 378 Rathdowne St for the last decade.

Selfless service

While Frank and his business partner Larry have only been running the deli since September 2022, the business has played a central role in the community since it first opened almost a decade ago. “It's more than just a job, it's more than just a business. Especially knowing we help out a lot of the locals,” says Frank. The deli stocks a huge range of items, from pantry essentials to specialty European products as well as fresh meals and coffees, but the inventory is ever-growing. “We will cater for different sorts of requests.” explains Frank, “For example, somebody wanted whole chestnuts, which we don't normally have, but we ordered them in for them.” 

It’s a service you won’t get at a supermarket, which is arguably why you won’t find one within two kilometres of Rathdowne Village. Here, shopping is done the old-fashioned way, “People will go around with their baskets, and they’ll go to the fruit shop, they’ll go to the bakery… just pick up things along the way… It’s a typical village!” says Frank. As for the locals, Phil agrees: “It's a great street, it's a very social street. There are a lot of very good people here and everyone seems to talk to everyone else. In fact, a few people have said that it's actually one of the best streets in Melbourne. I believe that.”