Loss
Thornbury, Victoria
A little piece of Melbourne dies on Sunday. Unnoticed by most but with great sadness for so many in our local area, Monticello Cakes in High Street Thornbury is closing its doors after nearly 60 years of service to our local community. No one will be sadder though than the owner Giovanni who lost his beloved wife Tina several months ago and his grief is still very raw. They were an incredible partnership working around the clock to make cakes, Italian pastrygoods and coffee for generations of local Italo Australians as well as for their ever growing legion of fans in the wider community. All this while bringing up a son and daughter.
Giovanni, who came to Australia from Sicily when he was 16, feels that he cannot continue despite still being very spritely in his late 80s but told me that the shop and some of its traditions will continue in a month or two under the new owner Corrado who will no doubt bring his own style but will display Monticello’s famous and exquisite “amaretti” under the front counter.
Much has changed in High Street and there is much to be celebrated as new businesses open and thrive and it grows as a cultural hub but it is always sad to see the gradual and inevitable loss of those little treasures of an earlier era such as Monticello and of the people from many distant lands who so lovingly created them.
Loss
Thornbury, Victoria
A little piece of Melbourne dies on Sunday. Unnoticed by most but with great sadness for so many in our local area, Monticello Cakes in High Street Thornbury is closing its doors after nearly 60 years of service to our local community. No one will be sadder though than the owner Giovanni who lost his beloved wife Tina several months ago and his grief is still very raw. They were an incredible partnership working around the clock to make cakes, Italian pastrygoods and coffee for generations of local Italo Australians as well as for their ever growing legion of fans in the wider community. All this while bringing up a son and daughter.
Giovanni, who came to Australia from Sicily when he was 16, feels that he cannot continue despite still being very spritely in his late 80s but told me that the shop and some of its traditions will continue in a month or two under the new owner Corrado who will no doubt bring his own style but will display Monticello’s famous and exquisite “amaretti” under the front counter.
Much has changed in High Street and there is much to be celebrated as new businesses open and thrive and it grows as a cultural hub but it is always sad to see the gradual and inevitable loss of those little treasures of an earlier era such as Monticello and of the people from many distant lands who so lovingly created them.