The first pizzas in Melbourne did not come from the kitchen at Papa Gino’s on Lygon Street – that honour goes to the now-closed Toto’s, which sat two blocks to the south. “When dad was opening Papa Gino’s, Toto’s was going through a renovation,” explains Alex Brosca, the long-time proprietor of Papa Gino’s, along with his brothers. Alex Brosca, left, and his brother Harry have just sold Papa Gino’s after 50 years at the helm.
Credit: Joe Armao “They were getting a new shopfront, and dad knew the boys. They just walked Toto’s old shopfront down the street and put it right there,” he said, pointing to the doorway that’s been accepting customers in this location since 1973. “So we could rightly claim that the very first pizza in Melbourne came through that door.
” Alex and his brother Harry, who have been running Papa Gino’s with their family since their father Gino Brosca died in 1988, are part of the living history of Lygon Street – and the tradition of Italian-Australian food that has defined the strip for decades. Harry Brosca pinning the dough base at Papa Gino’s in 2018. Credit: Josh Robenstone Their parents moved to Australia from Italy in the 1960s, and their father started his hospitality career working as a waiter at Toto’s.
Harry was only 12 when he joined him. “I got 80 cents an hour and a pizza,” he grins. At 16, he dropped out of school to work full-time at the new family restaurant, Papa Gino’s.
Alex came on board full-ti.