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Matteo Galletto heads to Norton Street

Scott Bolles
Scott Bolles

New arrival: Matteo Galletto is opening a restaurant in Leichhardt.
New arrival: Matteo Galletto is opening a restaurant in Leichhardt.Steven Siewert

When you're the son of legendary Sydney Italian restaurateur Lucio Galletto, of Lucio's fame, and looking to open your first restaurant, Leichhardt's Italian strip is a good place to start. Because if you can make it on Norton Street, you can, as they say, make it anywhere. A Lucio's spokeswoman confirmed Matteo is opening a venture with a partner at the former site of Elio and La Trattoria restaurants on Norton Street.

The elusive Galletto jnr couldn't be reached, but he's headed into Leichhardt at either a tough or opportune time, depending on how you read the market. When owner-chef Giovanni Spinazzola closed La Trattoria at the site last November, he told Good Food Leichhardt's Little Italy was on its knees. He blamed the decline on a combination of high rents, parking meters and the emergence of the alternate eating precincts. Matteo Galletto, who will continue to be involved at Lucio's as well as the start-up, will be able to tap his father for advice on Norton Street. Galletto snr operated the short-lived Sorriso on Norton Street in the early 2000s.

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Scott BollesScott Bolles writes the weekly Short Black column in Good Food.

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