Push for housing in Sydney's east will erase last traces of once-famous Grotta Capri restaurant

Australia Broadcast Center

10-05-2025

When patrons dined at the famed Grotta Capri they felt transported to Neptune's cave in Italy.
That is despite the Kensington restaurant being on a bustling road in Sydney's east.
The dining room, fit with fish tanks, blue lights, painted water scenes and fake stalactites, was an underwater-dream.
It's exterior — thousands of chipped oyster shells stuck onto textured walls —is worn down by time.
The Grotta Capri has been closed for nearly 15 years, but soon the site will be lost to history.
The former restaurant and neighbouring buildings have been earmarked for a precinct redevelopment with approval by Randwick City Council for four high-rise residential apartment blocks.
Kensington has seen massive change over the last decade with the introduction of the light rail.
As demand for housing and urban renewal increases, older venues have either been knocked down or reserved for construction.
Opening in 1955, the restaurant was aptly named the Grotta Capri after the Grotta Azzurra in Italy, a famous blue sea cave on the coast of the island of Capri.
It was a tribute to the post-World War II rush of migrants that shaped modern Australia.
The Grotta Capri was known for its cassata — Sicilian style gelato with layers of candied fruit, nuts and sometimes sponge cake.
The original owners, Rosa and Giovanni Battista, are long gone, but George Fotaras and his Greek-born father, Foti, owned the restaurant for several years from the late 1990s.
He remembers Ms Battista fondly.
"She lived locally after her husband died. It was the first restaurant that served pizza in Sydney. They used to have a bakery upstairs."
Mr Fotaras, who now works as a building designer, said diners came from far and wide to try their Mediterranean cuisine.
He said some people even paid taxi drivers to pick up their orders if they wanted takeaway — well before food e-delivery drivers were invented.
The most popular dish was a hot and cold seafood platter that included grilled Balmain bugs, oysters and a "pineapple in the middle filled with fruit salad".
The restaurant was even a set for various film and television scenes, including Muriel's Wedding and Underbelly.
Mr Fotaras said the venue's unique interior was part of its success.
"It was all cement and chicken wire. Stalactites and stalagmites. It was solid as, bit of a bunker. It was a bit like a big restaurant in the middle of the [NSW] Jenolan Caves.
"The restaurant had a water feature that ran throughout the ceiling, down through waterfalls, down through little rivers under the floor," he said.
"There was a 6,000 litre water tank under the floor that was not working when we bought it.
"It was a large restaurant, but it had all romantic little nooks and crannies."
Originally from Sydney's east, Caterina Jones said her parents, Maria and Camillo Di-Cola, chose the Grotta Capri restaurant in 1959 for their wedding reception.
"My parents wanted to have their small and intimate wedding reception there because being Italian migrants themselves, the restaurant and food on offer felt like home," Ms Jones said.
She said it was a place where many people in the community held their special celebrations.
It was extra special when years later in 2009 the family returned to celebrate a milestone wedding anniversary, Ms Jones recounted.
"When it came time to celebrate my parents' 50th wedding anniversary, the Grotta Capri was the only choice for venue.
"To be able to come back so many years later to celebrate was so meaningful and emotional. My family and I will always have fond memories of the place."
Rob Freestone from the School of Built Environment at the University of NSW said local landmarks could have a big impact on a community.
"Enduring local landmarks have a greater familiarity, and their passing can either be noted as the price of progress or genuinely mourned because of the depth of attachment," Professor Freestone said.
It's not yet known when construction of the Kensington site will commence.
Professor Freestone noted that Sydney's landscape would continue to evolve thanks to population needs in the future.
"Revisit a place you haven't been for a while and note the changes that have taken place, physically, culturally, commercially.
"It's part of the urban dynamic. At least the personal memories remain. But take that last photo now before it all disappears."
Mr Fotaras hoped the memories of Grotta Capri would remain ever-present in the minds of former diners.
"You mention Grotta Capri to someone who grew up in Sydney and they will say they have been to a wedding, a Valentine's Day or had a big day at the Randwick races and went after to celebrate.
"It was just an amazing place … something we will never forget."