Developers’ plan to demolish century old Mama Luigi’s restaurant site

DEVELOPERS want to ­level a century-old house, once home to a landmark Italian restaurant, where General MacArthur, Nat King Cole — and much of Brisbane — filled their plates.

Filippa Merenda was the co-owner and cook of Mama Luigi's in 1980. Picture: The Courier-Mail Archives.

DEVELOPERS want to ­demolish a century-old house, once home to landmark Brisbane Italian ­restaurant Mama Luigi’s, where General MacArthur and Nat King Cole dined.

Berson Properties have applied to demolish the house at 240 St Pauls Terrace, which was only last year protected under the pre-1911 building overlay in the Brisbane City Plan.

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Opposition city planning spokesman Jared Cassidy said not only was the building pre-1911 but it was a cultural touchstone for the city.

“Everyone of a certain age in Brisbane has a memory of going to Mama Luigi’s. It was an institution … It must be saved,” he said.

Cr Cassidy said Lord Mayor Graham Quirk had spent millions of ratepayer dollars on Brisbane’s Future Blueprint, which promised to better protect the city’s heritage.

“This is a golden opportunity for him to show he is fair dinkum,” he said.

This small house, sandwiched between two commercial office blocks, may not look like much but it once housed the famous Mama Luigi’s restaurant.

Former lord mayor Sallyanne Atkinson remembers Mama Luigi’s as a place of long tables brimming with spaghetti and people.

Ms Atkinson said she supported heritage protection but that the building should be useful, and it had been a long time since it was home to the restaurant.

“I used to go there as a student in the early 60s and it was one of the few places where you could go out to eat. We felt very international, very exotic,” she said.

A 1969 newspaper article by Pat Lloyd reported Mama Luigi’s opened in 1942 and became “one of Australia’s most extraordinary and best-known eating houses”.

Lloyd wrote original “Mama” Cesarina Deambrose’s spaghetti was made just for Australians with “no spices … our stomachs not being used to highly seasoned Italian cooking”.

The recipe proved delicious for three American servicemen who spread the word, which reached the very top.

“Even the Supreme Commander, General Douglas MacArthur, had a meal there,” Lloyd wrote.

Jazz musician Nat King Cole, singers Johnnie Ray and Billy Daniels and TV host Bob Dyer

all reportedly signed the visitors’ book.

Nat King Cole signed the visitors’ book. Picture: File

General Douglas Macarthur (centre) also dined at Mama Luigi’s. Picture: Australian War Memorial

The restaurant was extensively remodelled in the 1980s, after it was bought by Sam Zeneldin.

Berson Properties commissioned a heritage report from Urbis, which noted the house was visible on pre-1946 aerial photographs and the site marked on a pre-1911 sewer map.

However, it says the Fortitude Valley building was extensively remodelled throughout the years to accommodate offices and before that, a restaurant.

“It is difficult therefore to accurately identify much if any pre-1911 fabric at this site beyond some basic structural elements,” it states.

Spring Hill Community Group (SHCG) spokeswoman Kirsten Lovejoy said while it was not an “exciting building” it should be protected and even considered for a heritage listing.

“The reality is, as far as a cultural asset, this is a place that so many people across Brisbane can remember in their hearts,” she said.

Sam Zeneldin took over Mama Luigi's in 1980, he is pictured here raising the house. Picture: The Courier-Mail Archives.

Ms Lovejoy, who was a Greens candidate for McConnel at the last state election, called on council to protect 240 St Paul’s Terrace and reject the application.

City Planning chairman Matthew Bourke said the council was assessing the application to demolish the “tin and timber house”.

“Council has indicated to the applicant that it does not support this application, however, is inviting community feedback.”

He said the council had identified it as a pre-1911 house and included it on the character building overlay.

Planning Initiatives, who submitted the application on behalf of Berson Properties, was contacted for comment.

For details on the development application visit pdonline.brisbane.qld.gov.au and search for application number A004903937.