Fresh face on foreshore

Quarter of a century after it opened in Kingston, La Rustica is making a move to the new Kingston Foreshore, hoping to open this month in the Aurora complex – already home to C Dine, Morks, Remedy coffee, and the Rum bar.

La Rustica is a family-run business opened in 1990 by Dominic Celestino, then bought in 2004 by his niece’s family, the Calliparis. You’ll find Tony (the pizza chef) and Maria Callipari, their children and children’s spouses, Katrina and Giuseppe (the chef) Spadafora, and Peter and Bianca Callipari all in the business.

Sadly, they couldn’t get permission for a wood-fired pizza oven in the ground floor of the apartment block, but they have a cool new look and a new pastry chef, Fabio Morabito.

The original Kingston building is still owned by Dominic Celestino, who plans a wine bar.