By Mark Naglazas
For the briefest moment while sitting in the Hay Street Mall I thought I was in Italy.
Lattes and biscuits were placed on our table with a side order of bonhomie and banter, the liquid sound of Dean Martin’s That’s Amore blended with the chatter of customers, the man sitting across from me amplified and underscored every point with impassioned hand gestures.
Perth Lord Mayor Basil Zempilas sees Prosecco & Espresso as a beachhead in the battle to transform the Hay Street Mall into a cafe strip and a foodie destination.Credit: Mark Naglazas
My Roman reverie was fleeing as I was quickly brought back to planet Perth by the reality that the once-beating heart of the city’s retail district is now a depressing string of empty shops, boarded-up buildings and under-used upper floors.
Espresso & Prosecco is a shining light amid the gloom, an Italian-style coffee shop that since its opening last November has been an oasis of activity and enjoyment, with its al fresco area busy at all times of the day and on weekends (I had to pick myself off the stylishly tiled floor after learning that on weekdays they stayed open to 5pm).
The success of Espresso & Prosecco is due in no small part to the man sitting across from me drinking – appropriately – a skinny latte: Lord Mayor Basil Zempilas.
Zempilas doesn’t own shares in the place, but at every opportunity he’s been dropping the name into conversations about the revitalisation of the city.
He sees Espresso & Prosecco as a bridgehead in his quest to transform the moribund shopping mall into a bustling European-style cafe strip, in which eating and drinking goes hand-in-hand with talking, romancing and people watching.
And not without reason. Owned and managed by the Agnello family, who made the move into the Hay Street Mall after the lease on their Forrest Place cafe Bocelli’s ran out, Espresso & Prosecco is a welcome jolt of Mediterranean warmth and vibrancy in a part of the city that desperately needs some amore.
“Espresso & Prosecco is the first new food and beverage offering in the Hay Street Mall in a decade,” Zempilas tells me in between eager bites of his biscuit and slurps of his latte.
“What’s making this place work so well is that the family behind it have been in this business for their whole lives. They know what they are doing. And they are so committed to the Hay Street Mall that they bought the building and refurbished it beautifully.”
Perth Lord Mayor Basil Zempilas and Regina Agnello on the Prosecco & Espresso balcony.Credit: Mark Naglazs
Zempilas is so enthused by what the Agnellos have done with this former clothing store beside London Court that he takes me through the upper floors, which serve as function areas, and onto the balcony, where we get a see the upper floors of the heritage-listed buildings that line the mall and, for the most part, remain empty and crying out for activation.
The success of Espresso & Prosecco has given Zempilas the confidence to campaign for the Hay Street Mall to become not simply a new cafe strip but a foodie destination.
“Retail is not dead in the city,” argues the mayor. “It has moved to Murray Street. There are no empty shops on Murray Street. So Hay Street has to discover its purpose. What is its reason for existing? I and others believe that food and beverage can be part of that story.”
When I suggest to Zempilas that he go full European and welcome fresh food vendors and pop-up providers into the Hay Street Mall, such as a weekly market as they have in cities such as Paris, he takes it in his famously long stride. He loves the idea of the Hay Street Mall becoming a foodie destination.
Shock, horror: Prosecco & Espresso is open until 5pm and on weekends.Credit: Mark Naglazas
“There is a vacancy in the market for a food strip in this part of the city. Victoria Park has grabbed a bit of the action, Subiaco had a bit of the action and is trying hard to get it back,” Zempilas says.
“The Hay Street Mall, which has a beautiful setting when you stop and look up, is perfect for cafes and restaurants and even regular fresh food market. It’s already blocked off at either end.”
Zempilas believes the reinvention of the Hay Street Mall will get a significant boost when the newly renovated Picadilly Theatre opens and the Carillon Arcade is demolished and replaced by what he says will be a world-class shopping centre of the kind you would see in a city like Dubai.
But what will really help the renaissance of Hay Street Mall is relaxing shopping hours, he says.
“What if the shops shut not at 5.30pm but 7.20pm? What a difference that would make,” he says.
“If people could shop later it would push into dinner time and these people [Prosecco & Espresso] would remain open. And what if the Picadilly was up and running? Suddenly you have lots of people wanting food and drink. It would be transformative.”
“Hay Street needs life. Food brings life. Italians bring food. It is as simple as that.”
Giuseppe Agnello
On the way back to the office I popped into the Agnello family’s other family business, Bocelli’s Espresso, a smaller but incredibly busy coffee shop on the corner or William and Wellington streets and adjacent to the Royal Hotel.
Giuseppe Agnello: one of eight family members in the food and beverage business.Credit: Mark Naglazas
“Hay Street needs life. Food brings life. Italians bring food. It is as simple as that,” Giuseppe Agnello tells me during a break from making coffees and serving gelato.
“My family has been in the cafes in the heart of the city for 35 years, so we have a lot of confidence in the city. We also have a good idea of what this city needs.
“Perth loves al fresco eating and drinking. When the weather is fine, which is a lot of the time in Perth, people want to sit outside. They love sitting outside in the sunshine. And they love people watching, as they do in Italy.”
Agnello also reports that businesses near Espresso & Prosecco have had a significant boost in trade since the family moved into the Hay Street Mall.
“They used to get people passing through. Now they are sitting in the al fresco area and looking in the windows of the jewellery story and the clothing shop. The shop owners are reporting an increase in trade since we opened. Food is good for all businesses.”
Get the day’s breaking news, entertainment ideas and a long read to enjoy. Sign up to receive our Evening Edition newsletter here.