Withina yearofarrivinginMelbourne,Carlomethisfuture
wifeElsieandwasmarried.“It’sreallysweet,”saysLuca.“She
wasteachinghimEnglishandat a dancehewrotehera note
thatsaid,‘Here’sonefreedanceformybeautifulEnglish
teacher’.”Elsiestillhasthehandwrittennote 70 yearslater.
Theyhadthreechildren,John,PaulandLuisa,andplanned
torelocatetheirfamilytoItalyoncethey’dsavedenoughmoney.
In1955,theypurchasedKing&Godfree in Carlton. It sold
Kosheritems,but,as theJewish
communitymovedtothesouth
andeasternsuburbs,andmore
Italianssettledinthearea,Carlo
andElsiechangeditsdirection
toservicetheneighbourhood.
Eventually,theyraisedthecapitaltorelocatetoItalyin1960,
butwhenCarloreturnedhome,somethingfeltoff.“Hewasa
manstuckbetweentwocountriesandrealisedhereallymissed
Australiaandthelifethey’dcreatedforthemselves,”saysLuca.
CarloandElsieshiftedgearsand,inNovember1960,the
familywasbackinMelbourne.Knowinghewasstayingforgood
thistime,Carlowasona missiontorepresentItalyasbesthe
couldbyaccuratelyreplicatingasmanyofhisfavouritefoods
that he’d left behind and introducing them to a new audience.
“HestartedproducingandmanufacturingItalianfoodin
Melbourne,”saysJamie.Hebottledwine,pickledvegetablesand
madesausagesandcheeses,and,withhisbrothers,startedfood
brandsincludingLaGinacannedtomatoesandSirenatuna.In
the1970s,heintroducedLavazzacoffeetotheAustralianmarket.
“Ourgrandparentsworkedreallyhardintheshopduring
thedayanddiddeliveriesat night,”saysLuca.
Carlo worked until themid-1990sandthechildren,whohad
alwayshada hand,steppedupto
runthebusiness.Carlopassed
awayin2010,butKing&Godfree
remainsa familybusiness 65 years
later.JamieandLucaredeveloped
theheritage-listedsitein2018.
It includesKing&Godfreeespressobaranddeli,rooftopbar
Johnny’sGreenRoom,gelateriaPidapipo(runbyLisaValmorbida)
andwinebarAgostino– a nodtoCarlo’sfirstbusiness.
“Wewantedit tobea celebrationofwhatweloveabout
Italianfood,wineandculture,whilerespectingthecommunity
andourgrandparents’vision,”saysJamie.“Welivebytheir
mottothathardworkandcommonsensepayoff.”
King& Godfree,293-297 Lygon St, Carlton, Vic, (03) 9347 1619,
kingandgodfree.com➤“Hewas a manstuckbetweentwo
countriesandrealisedhereally missed
Australia and the life they’d created.”GOURMET TRAVELLER 73