Goulburn La Casa Italiana chef Franco Berlusconi dies at 75

Known for his passion and mischief, tributes are flowing for beloved chef and owner of La Casa Italiana, Franco Berlusconi, who has died aged 75.

Goulburn’s beloved chef and owner of La Casa Italiana, Franco Berlusconi died yet his legacy of love, kindness and authentic Italian food, will remain in the lives of his family and community.

At 75, Mr Berlusconi suffered a fatal heart attack on Saturday after enduring a battle with kidney disease, as well as other comorbidities.

The Bowral News spoke to his daughter, Stefania Berlusconi, who described the person he was and the life he lived.

“He has always been known for his compassion, for his selflessness,” Ms Berlusconi said.

“He made time for everybody.”

Franco Berlusconi in his earlier days

The passionate chef was born in Italy, in the small town of Legnano, near Milan, and at the young age of 14, he started working at Bar de Capitani.

“Because it’s after the war, you basically had to pick a career then and there. He decided to go down the hospitality route, both he and his twin brother,” Ms Berlusconi said.

She recalled how much of a “funny” and “cheeky” person her dad was and how he would get into mischief with his twin brother.

“Growing up he was constantly in trouble, him and his twin brother, constantly impersonating each other and going on dates with each other's girlfriends,” Ms Berlusconi said.

“I think that my dad and his two brothers, that are now reunited, will be the first to get kicked out of heaven.”

His career began in Italy and he opened several restaurants. Following his brief stint in the air-force, he immigrated to Australia where he opened up many restaurants in Sydney, made incredible friendships and met the love of his life.

Franco Berlusconi and his wife Lyn.

“Anybody that ever met my dad would know the legacy of his love for my mum,” Ms Berlusconi said.

“He always referred to her as his little bird.”

“I think people go through their lives and yes they find love, they find someone they’re happy to spend the rest of their lives with, but the love that my parents had for each other is beautiful and just next level.”

Ms Berlusconi said her dad would plant surprises for his wife, Lyn, like telling her they were going to the Blue Mountains and then at the airport, say they were actually flying to Tahiti, Fiji or Italy.

“I feel sorry for my partner and my sister’s partners because my parents have just set the bar so high,” she said.

Mr Berlusconi and Lyn met in 1981 at a mutual friend’s pizza shop on Pitt St, and after nine years of being close confidants, grew closer and started dating.

Then 18 months later, he popped the question.

Franco and Lyn on their wedding day.

“He asked my mum to pick him up from work, saying he was too sick to travel. He turned up wearing a heavy, long jacket full of odd bits and pieces, giving them to mum in succession, things like shaving cream, a coffee cup, toothbrush, tissues, a newspaper, a wine bottle cork and a small box,” Ms Berlusconi said.

“Inside the box was a piece of paper telling my mum to check the newspaper, to make sure nothing important was happening in the world.

“With mum being confused and distracted, he bent down on one knee and asked mum to please marry him.”

Not only did he propose once, but three times, which Ms Berlusconi said was because her dad was a “hopeless romantic” and wanted to make sure she knew “what she was in for.”

The second proposal combined his love for food and romance in one, by burying a diamond ring in a homemade profiterole. And the third was on their surprise trip to Italy, at the top of Mount Blanc.

The married couple worked together at their restaurants and 12 years ago after wanting something different, moved to Goulburn where La Casa Italiana was born.

“They stumbled across the advertisement and took it as a sign,” Ms Berlusconi said.

“They made the perfect team, my mum’s actually deaf and doesn’t sign, but lip reads, and my dad’s patience for her and her resilience and tenacity made them work together almost seamlessly.”

Ms Berlusconi said her parents wanted their children to maintain their life in Sydney, to continue their studies and extra-curricular activities.

“They made a lot of sacrifices for us,” Ms Berlusconi said.

Franco Berlusconi and his three daughters Stefania, Isabella and Chiara.

When talking of her dad’s passion for food, Ms Berlusconi described it as very “Trattoria.”

“It’s not very fancy, not fine dining, It’s just good authentic flavour taken from basic principles of Italian cooking,” Ms Berlusconi said.

 “He loved his regional dishes that he grew up with – after the way they had no food, there was no chicken or steak for dinner, it was kidney, liver and brains.”

“They had minimal food and it was about making it flavourful and resourceful and no waste – that’s the kind of legacy he put forward.

“With the restaurant in Goulburn, he decided to bring back some of the Italian classics throughout the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s, and made it into this beautiful experience where people could see that Italian food isn’t just pizza and pasta, it’s so much more than that.

Mr Berlusconi working at La Casa Italiana in Goulburn.

La Casa, now unfortunately shut in Goulburn, has attracted many loyal customers and friends.

“I’d like to thank all the customers that spent time with my dad and were like a second family, and it’s comforting to know that he will be missed and that he made so many friends up there,” Ms Berlusconi said.

“Family dinners at home with my dad were always full of conversations about how everybody in Goulburn was doing.”

Ms Berlusconi also mentioned her appreciation for the Bojc family in Goulburn, some of who worked at La Casa and just generally supported her family during trying times.

“They are the reason I have been able to plan my dad’s funeral with the love and care he deserved. Myself, my mum and my siblings will be forever grateful to this family,” Ms Berlusconi said.

“My father would be so proud to call the Bojc family, part of ours.”