The pizzaiolo bringing Neapolitan coffee culture to Sydney

There's more to Neapolitan coffee culture than sfogliatelle and espresso. Lucio De Falco wants you to try coda d'aragosta, paragina and caffe del Nonno.

Cappuccino and pastry

For Lucio de Falco, life in Naples meant waking up to the smell of coffee and having 10 cups a day. Source: Bar Lucio

Lucio De Falco brought Neapolitan pizza to inner Sydney with his Lucio pizzerias in Darlinghurst and Zetland, and now he's introducing us to Neapolitan coffee culture with Bar Lucio in Kensington.  

The 39-year-old emigrated to Australia from Naples, a province in Italy's south, when he was 21 and decided to stay. "Why not? Australia is a beautiful country."

While his adopted hometown also has a strong coffee culture, De Falco says that it's different in Italy. The entire day revolves around caffeine.  

"When I was growing up, the first thing you hear in the house is mamma making coffee with the [stovetop] caffetteria. The sound and the smell goes straight into your room and that's when you know it is wake-up time," he says.
  
"You wake up and have your first coffee and get ready. The second thing you do is go to breakfast at the bar. We don't call it a coffee shop, a bar is like a cafe or it can be even a wine bar at night."
When you go to a bar in Naples (which is called Napoli in Italy), breakfast is a cornetto (croissant) and cappuccino. "If someone comes to your house, it's a must you have a coffee. Even if the caffetteria is half-full, you have to make a fresh coffee. It is rude to serve old coffee. Even if they visit at night, you make fresh coffee. It's coffee all day long."

De Falco says it's pretty easy to notch up to 10-12 cups a day because coffee isn't just about the caffeine hit, it's about being social. In the same way Australians would meet for a drink, Italians meet for coffee. 

"I'm going to see you on the street, I say, 'Let's go for coffee'. Someone knocks on your door, 'Let's have a coffee'. We [Neapolitans] don't meet up for a glass of wine, we sit down at the bar at a little table and have a coffee in the middle of the piazza. You do it to enjoy yourself," he says.
How you drink your coffee in Napoli is also important. A cappuccino is only served at breakfast, the rest of the day its either an espresso or short ristretto. Order a flat white, piccolo or long black and eyebrows will raise.  

"The cafe culture in Australia is quite good and has a big variety, but in Napoli, when you go to coffee people stand by the bar so they have a little espresso, bang-bang, and then they go. They do not sit down at the table, they have coffee, a glass of mineral water and off to work," De Falco says of the Neapolitan coffee etiquette.
If someone comes to your house, it's a must you have a coffee.
"The first thing you do is stand by the bench and before coffee they give you a glass of sparkling mineral water to clean what you have in your mouth so you can taste the real coffee aroma. You drink water before the coffee, never after. You don't want to take away the coffee taste, otherwise, you have to have another coffee."

The idea behind Bar Lucio is to offer Sydneysiders a taste of Neapolitan coffee culture.  

One of the specialties is caffe del nonno, a cool and creamy mix of espresso, milk and cream. "It was invented during summer in Napoli when people still feel like having coffee but because it's so hot, it didn't really suit. It is coffee flavour but a cold version served in a glass and you have to eat it with a spoon," he says. 
 
Other regional specialties include the sfogliatelle, crunchy puff pastry filled with ricotta and candied orange, and its cousin, coda d'aragosta, which translates to lobster tails because of their shape.  

"Sfogliatelle in Naples after Sunday lunch, it's a must. Sunday lunch in Naples is big, you sit down at the table and you don't know what time you get up. Usually, you clear the table, open a box of pastries and then straight after, coffee. It's far too much, but no matter what you have to have a coffee."

Coda d'aragosta are slimmer and longer than sfogliatelle and are filled with chantilly cream. 

Savoury options at Bar Lucio include focaccia baked that morning in the woodfired pizza oven at Lucio's Zetland as well as paragina.  

"A paragina is a kind of pizza. The base is pizza dough, the top is puff pastry and the filling can be anything." However, the traditional filling is tomato, ham and mozzarella.

"It's like a filled mini pizza, when you go to a bar in Naples you can always find it in the window," De Falco says.
A paragina is a kind of pizza that's on offer at Bar Lucio.
A paragina is a kind of pizza that's on offer at Bar Lucio. Source: Harley Higgins
While Bar Lucio was only supposed to be a cafe, it's going to follow in the footsteps of Neapolitan bars and also serve drinks at night.  

"We had enquiries from the community to have a glass of wine there, so we are going to apply for a liquor license.

"It will be just like the Italian version of a bar, a place to have your coffee in the morning and wine at night," he says.

 

Love the story? Follow the author here: Twitter  and Instagram .


12 Lenthall St, Kensington, NSW
Mon-Fri: 6:30am-3pm
Sat-Sun: 7am-3pm



Share
SBS Food is a 24/7 foodie channel for all Australians, with a focus on simple, authentic and everyday food inspiration from cultures everywhere. NSW stream only. Read more about SBS Food
Have a story or comment? Contact Us

SBS Food is a 24/7 foodie channel for all Australians, with a focus on simple, authentic and everyday food inspiration from cultures everywhere. NSW stream only.
Watch nowOn Demand
Follow SBS Food
5 min read

Published

Updated

By Renata Gortan


Share this with family and friends