Aussies shocked by Totti’s restaurant look-a-like located in Paris

Aussies visiting the city of love have been left doing a double take after spotting a familiar looking restaurant.

An eagle-eyed customer of an exclusive Sydney eatery appears to have spotted its “doppelganger” halfway around the world.

Known among rich-listers for its classic Italian fare, Totti’s in Sydney has grown to become an institution in Australia’s culinary scene.

The suspiciously similar restaurant was spotted by Miss Double Bay — a popular Australian Instagram account — who noticed the similarities between the two venues was “uncanny”.

“It has come to my attention that we have a doppelganger in our midst – Totti (with no ’s), an Italian restaurant located in Paris,” she shared online.

“The like4like is uncanny … @merivale get the lawyers on standby.”

A restaurant called “Totti” (with no “s”) was spotted in Paris. Picture: Instagram

Its logo is strikingly similar to the logo of Sydney restaurant “Totti’s” with locations in Sydney and Melbourne. Picture: Instagram

Totti’s, which boasts venues in Sydney’s CBD, Bondi, Rozelle and Lorne, is part of the multimillion-dollar Merivale group founded by the late John Hemmes and his wife Merivale.

Some of the Instagram’s 60,000 followers reacted to the shocking revelation in the comment section.

“I don’t see the famous bread??,” one person said. “Totti you can copy totties but you will NEVER work out the crabby patty formula to make the bread puff up the way it does.”

“How could they … HOW COULD THEY!!!!,” a second said.

Cured meat and peppers served at Merivale’s Totti’s. Picture: Instagram

A mortadella dish at the Paris venue closely resembles something found on the Bondi menu. Picture: Instagram

“Juzzy Hemmes about to lawyer up,” another person wrote in reference to the Merivale founder’s son and current owner Justin Hemmes.

Another jokingly referred to it as the “Wish version” of Totti’s.

But not everyone agreed this was a case of a copycat, with one commenter noting Totti was a common Italian surname shared with former footballer Francesco Totti.

The Parisian doppelganger recently rebranded their social media, so there are only posts as far back as May 2023, making it hard to discern which of the two venues came first.

Radio host Jackie O has tagged the Paris restaurant mistakenly after visiting the Sydney venue. Picture: Instagram

The Paris venue has existed since at least November 2022. Picture: Instagram

Patrons have posted feedback to Google Reviews dating back to November 2022.

However, when checking the restaurants’ tagged photos, the grid is filled with posts tagged at the Merrivale groups various Australian locations with visitors mistakenly tagging the Paris venue, including one from radio host Jackie O’.

Totti’s Bondi – the first location of the now iconic franchise – was opened in March 2019.

Merivale group has been approached for comment.