‘What we’ve lost’: Sydney restaurant closure exposes trend

The closure of an iconic restaurant has upset many Aussies who say it symbolises how parts of the nation have lost their soul.

A 25-year-old restaurant has become the latest business to sell or shut down in Sydney’s “Little Italy”, with locals saying it’s another example of the city losing its soul.

La Giara Italian restaurant opened in Leichhardt’s struggling Italian Forum in 1999, when the Norton St precinct was a thriving cultural hotspot.

Its owners have now sold the business, saying it was time to hang up their aprons and retire, and acknowledging the “challenges” which have faced the forum.

In a post on the restaurant’s Facebook page, they said La Giara was the “last standing” of the original venues opened in the piazza at the turn of the century.

They recalled a time when the forum was an “iconically unique Sydney destination”, saying it was “lively, frequented day and night buzzing and with life and vitality”.

Gina di Francesco with daughter Josephine at La Giara. Picture: Toby Zerna

“The Forum is an incredibly unique place,” the post read.

“It is beautiful and despite its challenges, it will always and forever remain in our hearts.

“There have been tough times but overall, the experience has only made us more resilient and determined.”

It means the last remaining eateries in the forum, located 5km west of Sydney’s CBD, are Valenti’s Restaurant & Cafe and coffee sport Adri’s Cocina.

Although La Giara is expected to reopen under new owners, news of the sale drew comments from Sydneysiders who lamented factors that had “destroyed what made people come to those places”.

The Italian Forum has seen shops and restaurants closing in the last decade due to visitors staying away. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

Many cited parking fees – with charges of $7 and up to park at the forum – and traffic as one of the key issues affecting previously buzzing hubs.

“I remember the whole strip being filled with people to watch the World Cup back in the day,” one wrote.

“Now it’s just another sad reminder of what we’ve lost as a city.”

Another commenting on the Herald’s Instagram post said the area had “changed so much” from the place they once knew.

“If you showed photos from 2003 from the street to the forum even on a Thursday night, people today wouldn’t believe you.”

One person said her grandfather owned one of the suburb’s first Italian restaurants, Il Rugantino, “and he was the soul and heart of the community”.

“He also was in full support of the forum as the visionary of a cultural centre and a piece of Italy to his beloved Leichhardt,” they wrote.

“Both my grandparents would be devastated to see this happening.”

Diners at Leichhardt's Italian Forum in the year 2000. Picture: Matthew Vasilescu

Former Italian president Francesco Cossigat unveiled the forum’s foundation stone in 1988, after the land was granted to the large local Italian community by the Wran NSW government.

When it opened in 1999, the site was abuzz with activity thanks to restaurants, up-market retail and apartments overlooking the Italian-style town square.

Leichhardt was one of the inner west suburbs Italian migrants flocked to after World War II, but 2021 Census data shows only 371 residents were born in Italy.

Overall, there were 1563 residents of Italian heritage who called the suburb home in 2021, about 10 per cent of the total and 50 more than in 2016.

Nearby Haberfield had just over 30 per cent of residents claiming Italian ancestry, and Five Dock’s mark stood at more than 25 per cent in 2021.

Norton St and Leichhardt have been synonymous with Sydney’s Italian community. Picture: AAP Image/Danny Aarons

Frustrations at the state of Norton St and the forum were clear when news.com.au visited the precinct earlier this year.

One business owner blamed a lack of street parking for decimating foot traffic along the famous strip over the past few decades.

“You could lie down naked in the middle of Norton Street at 5.30pm on a Thursday night and no one would know you were there,” he said.

Ernesto Meduri, director of sportswear retailer ItaSport in the Italian Forum, said “99 per cent” of his business was now online due to a drop in physical customers.

“I can’t survive (without it),” he said.

“It’s very, very, very hard in Leichhardt at the moment. There’s a closed business every two to three months.”

Originally published as ‘What we’ve lost’: Sydney restaurant closure exposes trend