CAMILLO SACCO - DON CAMILLO`S RESTAURANT

Camillo Sacco was born in Cassino, Italy, in 1924, July 22nd.  He decided to emigrate to Australia just after WW2 due to his home town being totally destroyed in the battle for Monte Cassino.  Camillo arrived in Australia on the 19th of August, 1952, aboard the ship Surriento.

Camillo went to Griffith and learned to become a brick layer and stayed for a few years building many homes and the Griffith olympic pool.  In 1955 he called for his fiance` Leonilde Bartolini to join him.  Leonilde was from Selvapiana, Emilia Romagna.  Leonilde arrived on the 22 August 1955, also on the ship Surriento, and was married in Sydney the next day to Camillo in a small ceremony by father Sylvio.  They immediately went to Griffith and Leonilde soon began working as a cleaner, at The Griffith Hospital.

A few months later Camillo and Leonilde moved to Wollongong.  Camillo  went to work at BHP Steelworks, as there were better opportunities for him.  He worked at BHP from 1955 to 1957 and was living in Cringila.  Son Joseph was born in Jan 1957 followed by brother Denis who was born in 1961.  Camillo also built many homes in the Wollongong region from 1957 to 1962.

In 1963, Camillo purchased an existing mixed business that sold fruits, vegetables and grocery items, in Lake Avenue, Cringila, next to the post office. The family lived at the back of the shop, and it was quite small.  In 1970, after approximately seven years, Camillo sold the business and purchased another existing business in Addison Avenue, Warilla.  It was also a mixed business similar to the type of business he had in Cringila. The family were now living in Warrawong.  Camillo ran the business in Warilla for approximately two years and then sold it.

Camillo went back to doing some bricklaying whilst deciding what he wanted to do next. He was asked to build a garage for Gavino Aru, to house a trattoria style eatery in the back of a boarding house in Auburn Street, Wollongong.

Some time later Gavino had moved on from the little garage trattoria that he was running, and had opened a fully licensed restaurant in Kenny Street, that was a double property, one with a residence and the other the restaurant with car parking at the back. Though it really wasn’t suited to Gavino, so  in 1974 he asked Camillo if he was interested in buying the business and the property.  Camillo took the plunge and was now a restauranteur.  He changed the name to Don Camillo`s and worked with Gavino’s existing chef Benito Fazio, to create a new menu.  The new menu featured traditional Italian dishes including more pasta, steaks ,scallopine, local seafood dishes plus a variety of Italian desserts. They were open seven days per week, lunch and dinner.

They were busy from the outset and held small functions as well as the restaurant sittings. On Friday and Saturday nights they held dinner dances with a Latin band. Don Camillo`s restaurant was becoming a very popular venue.  The location of the restaurant made it an ideal location for business lunches and the Wollongong business community frequented the restaurant on the daily.  Close enough to the city to make it back to work on time, but just down the street enough to make lunch time special.

 

Camillo, Leonilde, Joe and Denis (who also was studying at University) were running the restaurant along with other staff.  Camillo was front of house, Leonilde was working in the kitchen with head chef Benito, who was in charge. There were many favourite dishes including home made lasagne, cannelloni, spaghetti and zuppa marinara, veal saltimbocca, steak dianne, fillet mignon and lobster mornay.  Cotoletta Don Camillo was a favourite dish that was named after Don Camillo himself.  It was veal layered with ham, cheese and mushroom.

The initial restaurant could hold between 50 - 60 people and they also had small wedding receptions. After a few years, Camillo was getting a lot of requests for larger weddings from the Italian community and so he put plans into council. The plans would be for an extension of the main dining area with living quarters on top as a second story. The house where the family were living was actually sold and the land used for an extended car park.

With the bigger restaurant Camillo was now able to have larger weddings that catered for 220 people. The functions were never ending with engagements, birthdays, christenings and confirmations. The end of year functions and Christmas gatherings were always booked out, year after year.  Don Camillo`s had a real party atmosphere.  Typically, weddings were held on a Saturday night and they were getting bookings, even up to two years in advance. A standard wedding menu usually consisted of antipasto, soup, pasta, main, dessert and coffee.  Depending on the individual, wedding menu`s were tailored and altered if needed.  Many Italians, other Europeans and Australian`s had their wedding receptions at Don Camillo`s Restaurant.  When they ran their wedding or large functions, Don Camillo`s had up to 15 staff working all together, under pressure to give a memorable evening, and they always did.

The restaurant offered a classic, old world charm that always provided great service. They used quality pasta for their meals and used local, freshly made, Italian style bread from Falcone`s bakery.  Camillo was insistent on sourcing the best and freshest ingredients and every morning he would go to the local fruit markets, fish mongers and other providores to gather supplies for the daily restaurant patrons.

In 1989, after working tirelessly for 15 years, Camillo Sacco sold his restaurant and property.  The Sacco family had given Wollongong memories that would live on for years.  Diners who visited Don Camillo`s felt at home and were treated well.  It was an era that is not seen anymore and Camillo Sacco made sure that all his customers felt happy from the moment they entered till the time they left.  Camillo finished with one last dinner.  It was for his clientele who regularly frequented the restaurant.  It was in appreciation and honour and as a thank you to them.

Camillo and Leonilde, both retired and were living in Unanderra.  They spent their time at their family home, plus a return trip to Italy for a vacation.  Camillo was another one of those immigrants who came to Australia with a pocket full of nothing but a willingness to work hard.  He was a great bricklayer, shop keeper and restauranteur.  He was always working and he certainly left a legacy.  In 2004 Camillo Sacco passed away on Jan 30.  He was 79 years old.  Leonilde now resides in Queensland with her son Joe.

Work in progress, as the new restaurant takes shape

    

Camillo working on renovations for the restaurant



All images from the collection belonging to Joe Sacco