Encore for Maurice Portelli, Leichhardt's singing cafe stalwart

Fast forward to 2022 and Mr Portelli's new venture, Municipal Cafe - a block up Norton Street from Mezzapica - this week celebrated its first birthday, a milestone also marked by the cafe being named a finalist in the Inner West Local Business Awards (of which Inner West Review is media partner).

Also among the contenders in the cafe category is the Leichhardt institution Bar Sport, Sydney's spiritual home of Italian football, owned by brothers Joe and Frank Napoliello. Bar Sport has been in its Norton Street pozzie since the 1950s, unlike the fledgling Municipal - a case of old Leichhardt v new, except for the fact that Mr Portelli's Leichhardt roots run deep.

"I have grown up in Leichhardt, since I was born," he said. "When I started considering where I would reopen, Leichhardt was always going to be my No. 1 choice."

READ ALSO: Plans afoot to revive 'sad' Italian Forum

The father of two says he thought he was putting his hospitality days behind him when he sold Mezzapica Cafe in 2017, and went to work in the family business next door.

"I never thought I would do it again. I was burnt out - hospitality can do that to you. But then I started missing it, and I started thinking about things a little differently as well. I waited for my non-compete to finish, which was three years, and that coincided with me having the enthusiasm to do it again."

Old regulars who he continued to see around Leichhatdt had also been asking if he was ever going to open a new cafe.

"That's what gave me the idea to redo it, and also the courage to open up when we did" - that is, during a pandemic, and only two weeks before Sydney went into its second and longest lockdown.

"The five months leading up to the opening where I was renovating the shop, it was pretty much like COVID didn't exist. I thougt I had missed the worst of it by not doing it the previous year, then it just took us all by surprise. All in all it hasn't been too bad. The first two weeks of lockdown were scary, then we started getting into a routine."

Many of the old Mezzapica Cafe regulars have found their way to the Municipal, where Mr Portelli is rebuilding a community while serving Little Marionette coffee roasted in Rozelle, and a modern Australian menu "with an Italian influence" that focuses especially on breakfast and brunch.

"At Mezzapica, we used to enjoy meeting all the locals and being a real family community place and that is even what the name Municipal came from - I wanted it to mean local, community, public."

And Mr Portelli's repertoire of songs has made the trip up Norton Street too - mostly tunes from the '80s and '90s, he says, "maybe with a preference towards ballads and soft rock".

"I told my partner that people know me for my singing, and she didn't believe me until she saw it for herself." Mr Portelli said. "And my staff said, 'how can you be so famous for something you are so bad at?' "

Inner West Local Business Awards

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