Changing face of Blue Angel restaurant in Darlinghurst

Criminals, movie stars and sporting greats have all been drawn to the Blue Angel’s seafood tank, which came to be in 1968. Today, the Darlinghurst restaurant is able to hold 3000kg of live lobsters — and it is still going strong.

• Families caught by creeping costs to watch fireworks
• Opal residents consider legal action to recoup losses

In the ’60s and ’70s many of his customers had guns — today they are armed with platinum and gold credit cards which sums up how the city has changed according to Sydney restaurateur of 58 years Marcello Marcobello.

His father Francisco opened Blue Angel in Palmer St, Darlinghurst in 1961 with the hookers 200m on the left and Darlinghurst detectives up the street on the right.

Both were regulars at the restaurant that served simple Italian food.

“Back in the ’60s this was a pretty tough part of town. There were two lanes, Chapel and Woods which was the heart of the red light district controlled by a fierce gangster called Joe Borg,’’ recalls Mr Marcobello.

“But he got blown up in car bomb at North Bondi and Donny “The Glove’’ Smith took over and was a regular, like Joe.’’

Owner of Blue Angel, Marcello Marcobello, with one of the restaurant’s signature king crabs. Picture: Richard Dobson

His father gave him some simple advice on how to handle The Glove — if he paid you, take the money. If he didn’t, don’t ask for it.

“He’d come in with his two henchmen, order a Bacardi and Coke for himself, two beers for them and ask me to put his gun behind the bar while he ate — but like Joe, he didn’t last that long.”

MORE STORIES

BODY-CONSCIOUS TEENAGE GIRLS SHUN TEAM SPORTS

DUTTON TEARS UP NEIL PRAKASH’S PASSPORT

One day he confided in Marcello: he had troubles.

“He came in, sipped his Bacardi and Coke and said to me, ‘there’s a bullet out there for me’ like he was in a gangster movie,” he said.

“The next week he was called to the Venus room at Kings Cross to meet James ‘Paddles’ Anderson, who worked for Abe Saffron, another customer back in the day. Donny was shot three times in the back as he left, which, to be honest, didn’t upset me too much.’’

Portrait which hangs on the wall at the Blue Angel Restaurant of Francesco Marcobello who founded the restaurant in 1961. Picture: Richard Dobson

Painting of a photograph of Muhammad Ali with Marcello Marcobello. Picture: Richard Dobson

In fact it helped the Blue Angel, because with many of the brothels moving further up Darlinghurst towards the Cross, a better class of clientele started to appear.

Then in 1968 young Marcello went to his dad with a brainstorm.

“Dad was having his morning espresso and grappa when I said, ‘what about serving live lobsters because no one else in Sydney is doing it’.’’

A few months later the first lobster and crab aquarium was installed in a Sydney restaurant, way ahead of the thousands now throughout Chinatown and Sydney.

Today Blue Angel has one of the most sophisticated aquarium systems in Sydney, able to hold 3000kg of live lobsters — more than the Sydney fish markets.

The interior of the Blue Angel Restaurant. Picture: Richard Dobson

Marcello Marcobello grabs one of the lobsters from the huge tanks at the restaurant. Picture: Richard Dobson

It quickly established Blue Angel as a restaurant of international repute and soon the stars started to arrive.

“In the ’70s we had Burt Lancaster, Lee Marvin and my favourite Mohammed Ali in 1979 … of course we still had local celebrities and the cops like Roger Rogerson, who was always polite.’’

Recently the crew of US rock band KISS would spend thousands every night during their stay in Sydney.

The singers from KISS were regulars at the restaurant when they came to Sydney. Picture: Supplied

A signed note written by actor Burt Lancaster hangs up on the wall at Blue Angel. Picture: Richard Dobson

The one sour note came in 1984 when food critic Leo Schofield wrote a blistering review, claiming a lobster had been overcooked and the service was lousy.

Mr Marcobello sued The Sydney Morning Herald.

“I was told they have much more money and I would lose, but I’m a determined son of bitch sometimes and we won on all points.”

He and the restaurant were awarded well over $150,000 in damages, interest and legal fees.

“After I paid the lawyers, I had a very long lunch with friends at the Bondi Icebergs I gave the rest to The Children’s Hospital at Westmead.’’

For many years Mr Marcobello’s distaste for Mr Schofield was as vitriolic as was his review of his restaurant.

“In recent years one of my old favourite customers, John Singleton, asked me if I would ever shake Schofield’s hand. I said if there was money for charity in it I would.’’

Today the restaurant is particularly popular with the Chinese community.

“Another sign of the times (is) we are an Italian restaurant with menus in English and Chinese,” Mr Marcobello says proudly.