Lucio s Italian Restaurant in Sydney is closing after 38 years serving Australia s great artists
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SatSaturday 30
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SatSaturday 30
Lucio and Sally Galletto are closing their Paddington restaurant after nearly 40 years of service.
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After 38 years of service, there are just some things restaurateur Lucio Galletto cannot let go.
He is keeping only a few artworks from among his eminent collection, which will be auctioned in March.
But there are also the rituals dating back to his childhood.
Before the restaurant opens, he walks through his Paddington establishment with a hot pan wafting the scent of burnt garlic infused with oil.
The artists may not all like each other but they all liked Lucioâs
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Lucioâs art collection begins before you set foot in the restaurant. A tangle of pipes by Dave Teer sits high on a wall. Francesco Petroloâs metal eggs nest in a paperbark tree. Salvatore Zofreaâs once-controversial ceramic naked woman gazes from a window. By the front door, Garry Sheadâs mosaic has the writer D.H. Lawrence, his wife and kangaroo picnicking in Italy.
Inside you can easily miss Sidney Nolanâs gold-framed sketch, which started the whole thing. Your eye is drawn along sunshine-yellow walls crowded with artworks and curiosities by many of Australiaâs best artists, from late masters such as John Coburn and Charles Blackman to younger stars Luke Sciberras and Joshua Yeldham.