Mining magnates behind Rose Bay's Regatta to open Kalsa at iconic Lucio's site in Paddington

As the curtain came down on a nearly 40-year run at Lucio's restaurant, the next culinary production for the historic Paddington building was already shuffling in the wings.

On its final night, owner and veteran restaurateur Lucio Galletto cruised between tables of regulars mining the last prizes from the restaurant's cellar, cracking jokes about selling art off the walls.

But chatter turned to the now-closed Regatta restaurant at Rose Bay, whose well-heeled owners have been spotted outside Lucio's in recent days.

"Yes, we signed a lease an hour ago," a spokesman for brothers Leigh, Brendan and Mark McPherson confirmed with Good Food.

The mining magnates are committed restaurant operators, reportedly dropping millions at Regatta, which swung into the old Pier site.

Undeterred by Regatta's closure, they'll open Kalsa at Lucio's former home, and while following an iconic Italian restaurant with another Italian might seem risky, the spokesman explains its Sicilian brief will be more far-reaching.

Kalsa will infuse Arab, Greek and West African influences. And they have the chef to pull it off – Sicilian-raised Dionisio Randazzo who, along his professional journey, nabbed a Michelin star as head chef at Ristorante Semplice in London.

"Sicily is a melting pot of cultures," Randazzo says. He's already working on the opening menu, which will include cous cous di pesce and the spongy focaccia with anchovies creation, sfincione.

There are a few changes planned for the restaurant, including a new private dining room upstairs, but don't expect a heavy art theme. "We'll leave that alone, if you try and continue that theme you'll constantly be compared," the spokesman says.

Kalsa will swing open its doors in early June.