A brother and sister team is bringing a 70-year-old family tradition and a taste of the Italian Riviera to the region as they continue the legacy of their father’s restaurant.
Matteo and Michela Galletto will open Lucio’s Marina in Tewantin in November, offering “simple food done well” in a seafood trattoria and bar setting.
“We can imagine people sitting by the water, with an Aperol Spritz and a frutti di mista,” Matteo said.
“That is what we are hoping to do here, we want this to be a space for locals.”
Their father Lucio opened Lucio’s in the Sydney suburb of Paddington in 1983 and growing up, Matteo and Michela always knew life to be surround by lots of people and good Italian food.
“We grew up in that restaurant,” Michela said.
“We went there after school, had our birthday parties there — we were very lucky.
“Our family home was also full of people coming and going, eating and barbequing.
“Our way of life was always to be very hospitable and have people around to eat or drink.”
Matteo said his father’s specialty was pasta and from his “simple” tomato sauce to fresh seafood dishes, he put a great deal of care and love into his food.
“Dad always did the pasta, his pastas were always exceptional,” Matteo told Sunshine Coast News.
“He loved to go to the markets, and spaghetti vongole (clams) was always his favourite. He grew up with the clams and the seafood, it’s just what he adored.
“He would get fanatical because as soon as the pasta came off the heat it had to be eaten.
“He would be yelling ‘pasta pronti, pasta pronti’ calling everyone to the table because if it sat there for two minutes too long it was devastating.
“He cared so much. He spent the time making it and when it was ready it had to be eaten at its best.”
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The journey of feeding people began long before they were both born, when their grandparents, great aunty and uncle opened Capannina Ciccio in northern Italy in 1951.
The restaurant is still in its original location and today is run by the third and fourth generations of the family.
“We were literally born into space,” Matteo said.
“We had a restaurant growing up and all the family holidays (to Italy) was going to the family restaurant, for us it was very much what life was like. It seemed very normal.”
Spending the past decade transitioning into running the restaurant from their parents, the Gallettos’, along with Matteo’s wife and talented chef Dieuwke Albertsma, decided to sell the Paddington space earlier this year to relocate and continue the legacy into the next 20 years and beyond.
“What attracted us to Noosa is the food, the community and the restaurant culture, which I think is one of the strongest outside of any metropolitan area in Australia,” Michela said.
Lucio’s Marina will differentiate itself from other Italian restaurants in the area with its strong focus on seafood.
“The family restaurant in Italy is a seaside restaurant and it’s all about the seafood,” Matteo said.
“The inspiration we have taken is from the great Italian seaside trattorias, but then doing it with the finesse we were known for at Lucio’s as well.”
While the menu is still in the works, Matteo said it will include signature seafood pastas, as well as antipasto sharing dishes.
The dishes will also highlight Sunshine Coast produce, with the family looking forward to continuing meeting and working with local producers.
“We want the seafood to shine, not to be obsolete and hidden behind complex flavours,” he said.
“A lot of the produce we got in Sydney was from up here anyway, so we are very excited to be closer to the source, know the fishermen, know the supplier and work with what they’ve got,” Michela added.
While an official opening date is yet to be set, Matteo said he had already received enquiries for large group bookings and that the local community had really embraced them.
As well as formal, seated dining, Lucio’s Marina will offer a bar area for diners to enjoy a social afternoon drink and food without the need for a formal booking.
“We are really looking forward to getting to know all our customers, we are really big on that,” Matteo said.
Lucio’s Marina will open at Noosa Marina, 2 Parkyn Court, Tewantin. To keep up-to-date on an opening announcement, visit luciosmarina.com.
