Italian football fans breathe life into Leichhardt and pack out Italian cafe Dom Panino

An Italian cafe in the inner west has started opening early to screen the country’s UEFA European Football Championship matches, in a bid to recreate the energy of Italy’s 2006 World Cup Win.

An Italian restaurateur is bring Little Italy back to Leichhardt, one football match at a time.

Cafe Owner Domenico Ruggeri, of Dom Panino, in an effort to recreate the energy of Italy’s 2006 World Cup Win, has opened up his venue to screen Italy’s UEFA European Football Championship matches.

Ruggeri, whose Italian Paninoteca started as a food truck in the pandemic before moving to a bricks and mortar store, opened at 5am on Sunday to screen Italy’s game against Albania.

Ruggeri had bookings for around 40 people. Instead, over 120 showed up.

Soccer fans up before the sun to watch the European Champions League at Dom Panino in Leichhardt. Photo: Supplied

Photo: Supplied

“I was 18 when Italy last won the [soccer] World Cup come and we gathered on restaurants on Norton Street and have the fondest memories. I wanted to give that to the younger generation. Seeing all these people gathered again was a goose bump moment,” Ruggeri said.

“If I closed my eyes, I thought I was in Italy. It felt like the old days.”

Leichhardt might be known as “Little Italy” however in recent years, the area has become a ghost town with a slew of empty shop fronts creating an eyesore on Norton St and the much maligned Italian Forum still struggling to attract visitors, the inner west suburb is in need of a customer boost more than ever.

According to the Australian Census in 2001, 3.4 per cent of the suburbs population spoke Italian at home, compared to 2.1% in 2021.

Ruggeri said while they’re are still Italians in Leichhardt, the change of the area is a reflection of Sydney’s high street problem.

Domenico Ruggeri owner of Dom Panino on Marion Street in Leichhardt pictured at his cafe with his nonna Maria Restuccia and mum Serafina Ruggeri. Picture: Damian Shaw

“Look at Paddington’s Oxford Street. It’s not just Little Italy that’s changed. It’s a Sydney thing, we tear something old beautiful down,” he said.

However Ruggeri, who runs the sandwich shop with his wife and his mother makes many of the dishes, is determined to keep the Italian spirit of the suburb alive.

“There are still great Italian operators here. I’m the new kid on the block but because we are one of the first Paninoteca in Sydney, we’ve become a destination and people from all over visit us. Hopefully we can be a ray of light for the area,” he said.

On the menu at Dom Panino for the games are dolci cooked by his mother Serafina and grandmother Maria.

Ruggeri will also open the shop on 5am on Friday June 21 when Italy take on Spain and then Tuesday 25th June to watch The Azzura take on Croatia.

“It’s no secret it’s a tough slog in hospitality but you’re in hospo because you love it. I like being someone’s therapist at the coffee machine, or serve food that make them happy and days like [Sunday] yesterday is what it is all about,” Ruggeri said. “I did it for the culture.”