Several years ago a friend of mine told me about an Italian deli in Warrawong. It was situated at the end of a long corridor that started in one street and ended up in a small lane way at the back. I didn’t think that there were any Italian deli’s left in the area. I was pleasantly surprised.
The wonderful thing about this deli is witnessing the `card playing` customers. Upon my first visit to the deli, the tables and chairs were filled with men playing cards, chatting, with some sipping coffee and others just sitting and watching. It really was fabulous to see. All of these men were retired and most were locals from the area.
You will find Santo`s Deli Cafe at the end of the corridor underneath the building at 258 Cowper Street, shop number 3. It is a small shop combined with an eat in cafe. Santo sells Italian dried goods as well as a selection of cured meats, cheeses and antipasto items. He also sells coffee, sweet treats and panini.
The deli is run by Santo La Rosa and his wife Judi. Santo arrived in Australia on the 23rd November, 1968, Sydney, NSW. He was only 17 years old and stayed with his sister.
His first job was doing formwork and he did this for approximately 7 months. He then began woking in the building industry and did so for many years.
In 1983 he opened a business at Dee Why, in Sydney. A cafe style eatery selling Italian panini, gelato & coffee. The cafe also had a pool table and video games. After four years he sold the business.
Santo then headed to Brookvale and ran the club house for the the local soccer team. There he was serving up Italian style sandwiches, pizza and coffee etc for the local soccer enthusiasts and the Italian community. He worked at the clubhouse for approximately 6 years. He then moved to Henley bowling club. They had a very small eatery. Santo built it up created a restaurant that also did functions. In 2003 he finished at the Henley Bowling club.
In 2006 Santo was ready to retire and moved down to Shell Cove on the South Coast of NSW. He liked the area and it was quieter than the hustle and bustle of Sydney. Through a broker he saw the deli for sale and looked into it. Soon he was back in business and serving panini, coffee and selling Italian grocery lines in the small deli business that he and Judi purchased.
The deli had a history in Warrawong. It was originally built by Rocco Annecchini. The Annecchini brothers were well known in the area for the businesses that they ran. Rocco previously had the Marina coffee lounge in Warrawong and some years later went on to construct the building in Cowper Street where he ran his Cafe/Deli at the back.
When Santo purchased the deli it was being run by Angelo Morello who was the second owner after Rocco. Angelo owned the building as well and sold the deli business to Santo. Santo added more stock to the deli making it plentiful.
The deli consists of two small shops. One side houses the deli and grocery items and the other side is the seating area where you will find customers enjoying their coffee, particularly the gentleman who frequent Santo`s deli daily for cards and companionship.
Over time Santo added a large cheese grater for fresh parmesan and extra shelving for more grocery items. Many of his customers are Italians and Europeans of course, but he has quite a lot of Australian customers too! They love his service and products from his fresh cut deli. He always offers his customers a little `taste` of something if they are not sure. Santo`s Australian customers urged him to stay, as he was thinking of selling at one stage.
The deli is opened seven days per week and Santo starts his day at 7.45am, ready for an 8.00 am opening! Many come in for coffee and cards and some stay till approx 11 am. He closes the deli at 5pm.
Covid hit him hard, like it did many, but he managed to push through. Having no other staff to pay allowed him to trade. He also has a good landlord. Santo said it was a 50% loss. People got used to being isolated and many never came back. He is slowly recovering from it.
The Card Players:
Emilio Gigliotti - came to Australia as a young boy 13 years old. His father Giuseppe was already in Australia arriving in 1952 aboard the ship Neptunia. Giuseppe lived at Port Kembla and by the time the family arrived he had purchased a block of land in First Avenue North and built a home for his family. Wife Concetta, daughters Eva Maria, Raffaela, Antonia and young Emilio all arrived on the ship Australia on the 9th of September, 1957.
Emilio began coming to the deli when Rocco Annecchini first had it in the early 1980`s. He knew Rocco very well and growing up in Warrawong he knew many local Italians including those from the surrounding area of Port Kembla.
Emilio made many friends and was also a member of the Port Kembla Soccer Club. He comes down to the deli nearly everyday for a coffee, chat and to catch up with his friends.
Nicola Reale - came to Australia in 1963 and has been in Warrawong for 60 years. He remembers the early days when Rocco initially had the cafe and it was tiny. In the beginning it was only a deli on one side where Rocco also served coffee. When the tenants of the shop next door moved out, Rocco then expanded into the second shop and added the eat in cafe to the deli. Nicola loves to come down the deli, to catch up with friends, read the newspaper and have a coffee, of course!
Angelo Maffullo - came to Australia in 1955 and since retirement comes down to the deli in the mornings for the social get togethers with his friends. He has been coming down to the deli ever since Santo owned it and some time before that too.
Alfonso Ruotolo - came to Australia in 1970. Another local who worked for 17 years at EPT. He is a regular at Santos.
Others who have been coming to the deli are Ettore Forlano, Franco Noe`, Giovanni Mastroianni, Allegro Cattunar, Salvatore Oggero and Erminio Carbonara: and these are only some of them. Most of these men have been regulars at the deli in some way or another since Rocco Annecchini first built the premises. Many of them also remember when Rocco had the Marina Coffee Lounge in the Lakeview Shopping Centre, on King Street. They all commented on how times have changed so much over the years. Not only have there been many changes, others have passed and friends have been missed.
It was so great to see how they got together on the daily to meet up, play cards, have a chat and sip their coffee. Playing cards also allows their minds to stay sharp and it creates a banter between them that keeps them all a little sparked up as well. Watching them play cards was a reminder to me of my own father who did the same. He would regularly attend the Fraternity Bowling Club at Fairy Meadow on a Saturday.
I remember as a young girl shopping with my mother in Cowper Street, Warrawong and there were at about three delicatessens it that street. There was also at least one deli in the shopping centre and one on King Street itself. It certainly is not like that now, with the supermarkets ever expanding their culinary range, they certainly have a stronghold. Though the memories are still here and staying connected as these gentleman do each and every day is testimony to them. What a blessing to have spoken with them to capture their contributions to the local Italian Community.
A young Santo La Rosa, departing for Australia.
The above video of some of the locals who frequent the cafe/deli
all filmed with permission
