“Sisto was like a brother to me,” Elice says. “He sent me to school on Little Collins Street to learn a bit of English when I first arrived. He was a good man. A very nice man. I miss him.”
Sisto’s son, David Malaspina, took over the business in 2019, and Elice says: “I’ve been good for the father, and good for the son.”
Rocco Elice met his wife working at Pellegrini’s. They will spend time at their beach house when he retires.Credit: Jason South
Over the years, Elice has served celebrities such as Russell Crowe, who booked out the whole restaurant for the Rabbitohs NRL team, musicians Michael Buble and Billy Joel, and plenty of politicians and business heavyweights.
“I see a lot of prime ministers, a lot of premiers,” Elice says. “Anthony Albanese, I see him in here with Lindsay Fox, they come in together and eat in the kitchen before he became prime minister.”
His favourite politician as a customer was former Liberal Party leader Andrew Peacock, who always ordered the same thing: “Ravioli, a granita and a small gelati.”
Elice met his wife, Maria, at Pellegrini’s, where she worked as a chef until she retired after 34 years.

Sisto Malaspina in 2010: Rocco Elice says he considers the restaurant’s late owner as a brother.Credit: Joe Armao
“We never fight when we are here,” he says. “You do your job, I do my job and that’s it.”
Elice will hang up his apron for the last time this month.
His plans for retirement are to stay at the couple’s beach house in Rosebud, do a bit of gardening and spend time with their six grandchildren.
“Maybe next year, we can go to Italy, me and my beautiful wife,” he says.
The City of Melbourne on Monday presented Elice with an award for his 50 years of service.
“A coffee with Rocco is like stepping back into the bygone era,” Lord Mayor Nick Reece said. “Not many people can say they’ve had a 50-year impact on a city.”
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