Sergio Tezzo​ had many goals when he jumped in at Darlinghurst's Tropicana Caffe 35 years ago. But it's safe to say playing a part in the birth of a film festival wasn't one of them. The owner of the spiritual home of Tropfest, the world's largest short film festival, is hanging up his apron, selling the famed Sydney cafe.

When a regular, John Polson, asked if he could show a few films at the Tropicana in 1993, Tezzo had no idea what it would morph into. "It was a crazy time. We were already somewhere a lot of people came to – Kylie Minogue and Michael Hutchence, and [director] George Miller."

After Tropfest became too big to be held outside the cafe, Tezzo says he became less attached to it as it moved from being an event for locals into something more widespread.

The Tropicana, which serves around 3500 customers a week, was for Tezzo about the food, coffee and service. In the early noughties it made headlines when the cafe set up an alarm system to warn customers when a parking officer was on the strip. Sergio and his business partner wife, Simonetta, have exited the Trop once before, selling it in the late 1990s before buying it back less than two years later for reportedly half the price they sold it.

This time the new owner Tonci Farac has a major advantage. Tezzo says his wife has handed over all her recipes – a book he says is like her child.

Farac, who previously owned Wildfire at Circular Quay, insists he doesn't intend to change a proven formula. "We might renovate it a little bit and give it a few tweaks, but it's a great place." Tezzo says he is leaving it in good hands and has no plans beyond taking a well-deserved break.