In the 1960s in Sydney, Windsor Street in Paddington was
the place to be. The
Windsor Castle pub was packed nightly with it's many bars and live music in the beer garden. Gays & lesbians, heterosexuals, the legendary
Push (
Germaine Greer etc) all made their way there. Paddington was a working class suburb with a mix of immigrants who flocked to the cheap housing.
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| Lucio (right) celebrates with pals. |
These days those once affordable terrace houses with their exotic French lace ironwork sell for over a million dollars. The Windsor Castle has become a vast private home and each house seems to boast a BMW or Mercedes.
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| Maria Venuti partied with Mickey Robbins |
One establishment opposite the Castle that has lasted :
Lucio's Restaurant serving classic Italian food. It stared life as the
Hungry Horse art gallery before being taken over by Lucio in 1983. In it's early days it was a hangout for artists like
John Olsen and
Tim Storrier who sometimes paid their bills with works of art. Lucio probably has a small fortune hanging on his walls. These days
Lucio Galletto OAM hosts all manner of guests from movie stars like
Nicole Kidman and
Daniel Craig with celebs like
Ricky Martin and
Giorgio Armani dining there. And thirty successful years was a good enough excuse to hold a party.
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One guest at Lucio's party was
Leon Fink who owns the world famous
Quay Restaurant , seen her in our snap deep in conversation with
News Ltd honcho
Piers Ackermann (
left).
Leon is behind the push to takeover the most visable dining spot in Sydney-
Bennelong at the Sydney Opera House.
With the lease up on the top restaurant and chef
Guillaume Brahimi throwing in the dish cloth, Fink has a plan to instal top chef
Bill Granger who is cutting up a storm in the UK.
