Australian Gourmet Traveller - (03)March 2020 (1)

Recently,a guestturneduptoLucio’sfor

her30thbirthdayandaskedif shecould

sitintheSydneyrestaurant’sfrontroom.

“Hermotherwentintolabourwithherin

thatroom 30 yearsago,”saysSallyGalletto.

It’soneofmanymemorableincidentsthat

haveoccurredatthePaddingtoninstitution

she’srunwithhusbandLuciosince1983.

TherewasthetimesingerTomJoneshad

“dinner” after his show: he arrived with his

January2008,actorNicoleKidmanand

hermusicianhusbandKeithUrbandinedat

Lucio’safterannouncingshewaspregnant

withtheirfirstchild(thismeantpaparazziand

TVcrewswereoutside,tryingtogetfootage).

“Familymemberslivingin Italywerestunned

towatchItalianSkyNewsandseeLucio’s

beamingfaceonthescreen,”saysGalletto.

Overits 37 years,therestauranthas

earnedfansforitsblackhandkerchiefpasta

withseafood(whichactorAlPacinoenjoyed),

andtaglioliniallagranseola(pictured),the

crabpastadish,whichhasbeenLucio’s

bestsellersinceitslaunch.Therestaurant

is alsorenownedforitsartcollection,which

startedwitha NedKellysketchthatSid

Nolanscrawledona docketbookafter

hisfirstlunchatLucio’s.Themenucovers

weredesignedbyartistJohnOlsen.

Therestaurantis abouttofacebig

changes:thefamilyis sellingthebuilding,

buthopestoretaina three-yearleaseso

it cancelebrateits40thbirthday– before

rebootingtherestaurantina newformat.

ButGallettowantstoassuredinersthat

“whateverformournewventuretakes,

boththetaglioliniandtheblackpasta

willbesafeandreappear.”

47 WindsorSt, Paddington, NSW,

lucios.com.au

entourageat1amandleftaround6am.

GeorgeHarrisonfromTheBeatlesalso

dinedthere– duringmoretypicalbusiness

hours– whichwasa majormomentforthe

restaurant’sco-ownerandchef.“Luciohas

beena Beatlestragicsincethebeginning,”

saysGalletto.“Infact,theonlyEnglishhe

knewgrowingupcamefromBeatleslyrics.”

Therestauranthasalsounexpectedly

featured in Italian media over the years. In

GOOD TIMES PASTA

Sydneywilltransform

intoa cross-suburb

artparkwhenthe

Biennalereturnsfor

threeart-packed

months.Over 100

multi-disciplinaryartists

andperformerswill

descendonCockatoo

Islandandlocalart

institutions.Entryis free;

14 Marchto8 June,

biennaleofsydney.art

EX

HIB

ITIONNEW

S

26 GOURMET TRAVELLER

PHOTOGRAPHY FRANCIS AMIAND (ROCCA DELLE TRE CONTRADE) & WILLIAM MEPPEM (LUCIO’S). STYLING LISA FEATHERBY (LUCIO’S).

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