The clink of coffee cups and the swoosh of the espresso machine pierced the quiet at Pellegrini's Espresso Bar as the Melbourne institution reopened for the first time after co-owner Sisto Malaspina died in a terror attack.
The stool at the bar where the 74-year-old would sit is empty. A coffee, newspaper and candle sat on the bench as scores of people lined up for a coffee to pay their respects after the doors opened just before 8am.
"It's been a good experience, a strange experience. I see today as the beginning of the celebration of Sisto's life. You can only cry so much," his nephew Rob Cecchini told AAP on Tuesday.
"I'm sure he would have wanted us all to do just that - celebrate his life."
Mr Cecchini said seeing his uncle's empty stool was difficult but he was trying to "push through".
"Bearing in mind, the whole episode hasn't really sunk in with us yet, with the family," he said.
"We still haven't come to terms with it, we just haven't come to terms with it yet."
But the community support, scores of people coming into the bar and thousands of flowers lining the adjacent Crossley Street, was comforting, he said.