B
orninFremantlebut
raisedinanItalian
household,JohnRe’s
destinyasfixerbetween
EuropeandAustraliaalmostseemspreordained.
Thethird-eldestof 10 brothers,ReworkedinhisSicilian
fatherGiuseppe’sfood-importingbusinessbeforestrikingout
onhisowntoopena no-nameNorthbridgefruit-and-vegshop
withhiswife,Maria,in1929.Aftersevenyearsofserving
thearea,theRefamily– aidedbytheproceedsofpawning
Maria’sengagementring– relocatedtobiggerpremisesonthe
cornerofLakeandAberdeenstreetsandopenedTheReStore.
Whilefreshfruitandvegetablesremaineda majorpart
ofthebusiness,theexpansionallowedtheRestodiversifytheir
offering,startingbyimportingnewproductstocatertothe
area’sgrowing,predominantlyEuropean,population.Many
ofthesenewarrivalswerealsoItalian,sopasta,olive oil and
properparmesancheesewere,unsurprisingly,
amongthegoodstheResbroughttoPerth.
Lessexpected,however,wasthewaythat
non-Italians(gradually)embracedtheseproducts.
Balsamicvinegarwouldeventuallysharecupboard
spacewith“typical”vinegarvarietieslikewhite
andbrown.Jarsofgood-qualitysun-dried
tomatoesandpickledeggplantswereavailable
forcuriouseaterswhosefamiliesweren’talready
makingtheirown.
Overtheyears,therangegrewtoinclude
non-Italiancheesessuchasbrie,camembertand
Emmental,which,forthemostpart,manycustomers
hadnevertriedbefore.
AcquaintingpeopletothepleasuresoftheEuropean
tableremainsintegraltoTheReStoreexperience,bothat
theNorthbridgemothershipanditsWestLeedervillespin-
off,originallyopenedin1952,butrelocatedintheearly
1970saftertheoriginalstorewasdemolishedtomake
wayfortheconstructionoftheMitchellFreeway.
“I alwaysfeelPerthis a greatmulticulturalsocietybecause
thepopulationwasneverthatbig,”saysMorenoBerti,the
Re’sgrandsonand,withbrotherLorenzoandsisterMaria
Milani,partofthefamily’sthird-generationgroupofowners.
“Youwereforcedtobefriendswithalldifferentnationalities
becauseyoucouldn’tjustkeeptobeingItalianorGreek.
WhenI firstwenttoMelbourne,thethingI thoughtwas
weirdwasseeingItaliansonlyhangingoutwithItalians.
Differentgroupsweren’tmixing.Because the communities
were so small in Perth, you had to.”AlthoughJohnlearnedthe
ropesaboutfoodimportingfrom
hisfather,hewasalsoblessed
witha strongentrepreneurial
streak.Throughouthiscareer,hesoldcookingoilsandtinned
goodsundersuccessfulhousebrands(and,forgoodmeasure,
cameupwithlabelandartworkconcepts).Ona datethat’s
sincebeenlosttohistory,theResgavePerthitsfirsttasteof
thecontinentalroll.Consistingofcoldcuts,cheese,salad
andcondimentscrammedintoa whiteroll,it’sthewest’s
answertoregionalAmerican-Italiansandwichessuchasthe
hoagie,heroandmuffuletta.
Thiscreativethinkingwasn’tjustlimitedtofoodstuffs,
either,withtheResalsohavinginfluencedPerth’sdrinks
scene.Theoriginal 1936 expansionallowedtheRestobegin
roastingcoffeebeansusinga smallProbatroasterpurchased
from England.Theseearlyexperimentsledtotheestablishment
ofBraziliano,thestate’sfirstcoffeebrandand
a gatewaytoEuropean-stylecoffeeforWestern
Australians.“Togettothecaféculturewehave
now,it wasa long,hardslog,”saysMoreno.
TheResalsoplayedkeyrolesinchanging
thestate’sattitudestodrinking.Whenthesecond,
licensed,storeopenedinLeederville,itsairy,family-
friendlysettingwasa markeddeparturefromthe
seedyliquorstoresthatdominatedthemarket
duringthe1950s.Farnesewines– anotherRebrand,
thistimenamedafterthemunicipalitynorth-west
ofRome– introducedmanyWesternAustralians
totheideathatwinecouldbeanenjoyablepartofday-to-daylife.
Ata timewhenwineoptionsweremoreorlesslimitedtobulk
winesorexpensivepremiumbottles,theideaofbeingableto
takehomewell-pricedwhitewines,sherryorRenmarkspecial
redwasa game-changer.Thesourceofthewines,incidentally,
wereGermanwinemakerswhomRehadmetwhenheinternedat
SouthAustralia’sLoveday,a detentioncampforEuropeaninterns
duringWorldWarII.(John’sincarceration,however,meantMaria
hadtoruntheshopandraisetheiryoungfamilybyherself.)
Yetforallthispioneeringspirit,Morenois uncomfortable
makinganyabsoluteclaimsaboutwhathisgrandparentsand
thosebeforehimbroughttoPerth’scommunaldiningtable.
“Theysawanopportunity,”saysMoreno.“Ifit hadn’tbeen
them,thenit wouldhavebeensomeoneelse.Wewerejust
theoneswhorecognisedit at thetimeandwemanagedto
helpintroducesomegourmetgoodstothepublic.”
TheReStore, 72 LakeSt,Northbridge,WA,(08) 9328 1877;
231 Oxford St, West Leederville, WA, (08) 9444 9644.●WesternAustralia
THE RE FAMILY
byMax Veenhuyzen
“Ialwaysfeel
Perthis a great
multicultural
societybecause
thepopulation
was never
that big.”GOURMET TRAVELLER 75