Pellegrini’s business partner, Sisto Malaspina, died in the horrendous Bourke Street attack.

He went out for his daily afternoon walk and never returned.

Pellegrini’s has stood the test of time on one of the city's busiest walking streets since the 1950s.

The espresso bar is quintessential Melbourne.

Mr Malaspina and his friend Nino Pangrazio took over the business in 1974.

It was a Melbourne institution in the minds of many.

ABC journalist and TV presenter Virginia Trioli tweeted: I am devastated. I’ve known Sisto’s smiling, beautiful face all my life. My first coffee, my first date, my Melbourne life. This man, this bar, this lane, this community is the heart of Melbourne – and it will always beat strong.

Musician, radio presenter and actor Clare Bowditch with this over the weekend: Sisto, thank you. You hosted our family so many times at Pellegrini’s: first my parents, then us kids, then our kids. Desperately sad news. Heartfelt condolences to all of your family.

The reaction to Mr Malaspina’s death has been so wholehearted and widespread that the Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews quickly offered the family a state funeral to commemorate the life of a “wonderful, wonderful man”.

Andrew M. MacLeod summed it up best when he tweeted: People’s deaths matter more when someone is known to you. When someone feeds you, it matters even more. I don’t know anyone in #Melbourne who was not fed by #Sisto. Hopefully we will forget the name of the man who murdered him. But Melbourne will not forget Sisto Malaspina.

SBS Food describes going to Pellegrini’s Espresso Bar, on Melbourne’s Bourke Street, like taking a time machine straight back to the 1950s.

Founded by the Pellegrini brothers, Mr Malaspina and Mr Pangrazio were only the second owners in the eatery’s history.

The neon cafe sign, which is now heritage-listed, the decor and the menu haven’t changed since it opened in 1954.

I’ll leave it to the politicians to trivialize, generalize and stereotype the hell out of a tragedy like this one.

(They blame one religion. They blame too many religious leaders. One woman a week and one man a month is killed in Australia by a current or former partner. Religion, however, never comes into that blame game.)

Instead we’d do well to acknowledge the role of people like Mr Malaspina who nourish us and keep us connected as they go about their daily trade.

Pellegrini’s was one of the first eateries in the Melbourne CBD to operate an espresso machine. 

Ultimately, it pioneered Australian cafe culture as we know it.

Melbourne is still head and shoulders above every other capital in the nation on quality brewed coffee.  

A restaurant scene that punches above its weight is firmly rooted in the post-war development of the Italian dining trade.

Everyone has their favourite haunts when they visit the Victorian capital.

Italian eateries like Caffe E Torta and Journal Canteen are capable of restoring peace and goodwill amid any chaotic and fleeting Melbourne trip.

If the consistent coffee can’t perk you up, the perfectly-presented bowls of pasta with a glass of prosecco will. 

Everything comes with generous lashings of warm-hearted service, like you might be a long-lost cousin.

Pellegrini’s served long black coffees for free when it reopened yesterday for the first time since the tragedy, in honour of Mr Malaspina's drink of choice.

Hundreds turned out for their morning brew and to pay their respects to the family.

Even a packet of pasta was left among the floral tributes. 

Melbourne lost a food icon on Friday.

But the buzzing cafe culture he helped create and nurture is very much alive and well.