by It’s hard to believe such a ubiquitous item had a single origin, but it really was the case: here is, Australia’s first pizza restaurant.
Like many things in the modern world, the roots of Australian pizza can be traced to World War II.
On June 10, 1940, Italy joined the war on the side of Nazi Germany. During the next three years, while fighting as a member of the Axis powers, more than 400 000 Italian troops would be taken as prisoners of war.
As Great Britain and its allies had no territory in mainland Europe, these were sent to prisoner of war camps throughout the Commonwealth. Around 18 000 would be interred in Australia.
One of these, was Pasquale Rosella.
Rosella was from the Campania region, near Naples. A conscript in the Army, he was captured and sent to Australia and would spend time in a prisoner of war camp in Victoria.
Italy signed an armistice with the Allies in September 1943. This would normally have meant prisoners of war would be repatriated, but as part of Italy was still under Nazi control, this did not occur immediately.
The Italians in Australia were released from detention, but instead of returning home, were put to work. They were sent mostly to rural areas, to help make up for labour shortfalls caused by the war.
Farmers and primary producers provided food and board, and paid the government ₤1 a week for each POW. Only one shilling of this was paid to the workers themselves, the rest was kept by the government as a fee.
Pasquale Rosella was among this ad hoc workforce. He did not return to Italy, along with many of his fellow POWs, until 1947.
But instead of anger at his imprisonment and delayed return, Rosella had liked what he had seen of Australia. After he arrived in Italy, he resolved to emigrate there permanently.
He was not alone.
An estimated 10 000 Italians who had spent time in Australia as POWs would ultimately return to settle. This was part of an even wider trend: more than 350 000 Italians would emigrate to Australia, after World War II.
Australian multiculturalism was about to get an enormous boost.
Pasquale Rosella returned to Australia in 1955, settling in Adelaide. Joining him two years later were his wife, Lucia, and their two children, Nicci and Maria.
Lucia Rosella was born and raised on a small farm in Pago Veiano, Italy, with her four sisters and brother. Part of a self-sufficient household, she had been taught to cook as a child by her mother, and come to master a number of classic Italian dishes.
Lucia had met and married Pasquale after his return to Italy, when he already had his sights set on Australia.
While Pasquale loved his adopted country, his wife struggled at first.
‘I didn’t like it in the beginning because I couldn’t speak English. I wanted to earn some money to help my husband but I couldn’t because when I looked for a job they would say, ‘Come back when you’ve learnt to speak English.’
– Lucia Rosella
Instead of paid employment, Lucia raised the children and looked after the household.
Culinary fate intervened one day in 1957. One of Lucia’s neighbours, an Australian woman named Dana Hill, smelt something she was cooking and decided to investigate.
Unable to explain what the dish was in English, Lucia offered her a taste.
Hill was enraptured, and quickly spread word around the neighbourhood. Other people came by to try this novel Italian dish.
It was a Margherita pizza.
Encouraged by her neighbours, and with her English improving, Lucia and her husband decided to try opening a pizza bar. This type of restaurant, common in Italy, was completely unknown in Australia.
They leased a vacant stall at the Adelaide Central Market. It was a small place, with only seven seats and a counter.
Initially, business was slow. Australian cuisine was still dominated by British foods, and pizza and pasta were unfamiliar; in later years, Lucia’s daughter Nicci would quip the only spaghetti people had seen had come out of a can.
But as time passed, word-of-mouth began to spread.
‘It wasn’t a very big place. I served pizza, spaghetti, cakes and sandwiches. Lots of people used to come in after the football for a pizza. They all enjoyed it and some wanted to cook it at home. It made me very happy.’
– Lucia Rosella
Stall 69 established itself as ‘Lucia’s Pizza & Spaghetti Bar’.
Lucia ran the business, while her husband worked elsewhere during the day; he would join her when his shift was over, and work into the evening. She cooked recipes she knew intimately from growing up, using fresh produce from the market.
The stall also served Italian coffee, from a percolator always topped up on the stove. This was also new for the local patrons, some of whom struggled with the strong flavour.
Italian food culture had a bridgehead in Australia.
Lucia’s Pizza and Spaghetti Bar became successful, and eventually the family’s primary business. Lucia’s sister soon emigrated and joined her in running it; when her children were of age they worked there as well.
Australia’s first pizza restaurant is still operating at the Adelaide Central Markets, nearly 70 years later. As well as the original pizza bar, the family also operate a fine foods store, which sells their own line of Italian pasta sauces, along with imported groceries.
Lucia’s daughters now run the business full time. In her later years, she continued to make the pizza sauce by hand.
Lucia Rosella passes away quietly in Novemeber 2024.
Other Italian immigrants would eventually follow in the Rosella’s wake.
Australia’s second pizza bar, ‘Toto’s’, opened in Melbourne in 1961. Started by Salvatore Della Bruna, this was located on Lygon Street in Carlton, a hub for Italian migrants (the restaurant would often bill itself, inaccurately, as Australia’s first pizza restaurant).
Toto’s would also prove durable, running for nearly 60 years; sadly it closed in 2019, a victim of the Covid lockdown.
Today there are more than 1200 pizza restaurants across Australia, with an annual turnover of $4.5 billion. Around a third of the population have pizza at least once a week.
