The Piccolo reborn

When the Piccolo Bar suddenly closed for business in early 2011, many feared the bohemian-style coffee shop would be lost forever.

Kings Cross has recently seen the termination of such classic and enduring establishments as Barons, the New York Café and The Bourbon. Along with the Piccolo, they were the last vestiges of the old Cross, the era that preceeded both backpackers and apartment-style gentrification, dating back to the 1950s.

Despite a handwritten sign in the window “We will be back”, rumours quickly spread that the much loved Piccolo was gone or was about to undergo an ungodly transformation as the mass of memorabilia was stripped from its walls. Adjoining shopkeepers could throw little light on the situation and many former patrons expressed their concern for its long time owner and neighbourhood personality, Vittorio Bianchi.

Fears were allayed last year when renovations began on the tiny espresso bar and a newer and fresher looking Piccolo emerged. The unstoppable septuagenarian, Mr Bianchi, returned and with the help of family members Lorenzo and Tina, the Piccolo was set to reopen as the last bastion of the historic Kings Cross. Even the old photographs were returning to the walls.

When pressed for a reason as to the Piccolo’s sudden closure Mr Bianchi said “We needed time to sort out some finances, but everything has worked out well.”

Mr Bianchi first began working at the Piccolo during the 1950s and eventually bought the business in 1994 following the death of its long time proprietor, Ossie. The story of both Mr Bianchi and the café, which awaits a biographer, reflects both the culture and social history of Kings Cross.

During the 1960s and 1970s the Piccolo was a haven for Kings Cross bohemia – actors, artists, musicians, writers, poets and philosophers as well as visiting celebrities. The list of noteable patrons over the years would run to pages and includes Liv Ulmann, Jeremy Irons, Dennis Hopper, Brett Whitely, Jeannie Lewis, Lindsay Kemp, Marianne Faithfull, Elizabeth Burton, Fifi Lamour, Kate Fitzpatrick, Roslyn Norton, Frank Hardy and Gough Whitlam.

Mr Bianchi, who has an astonishing memory, can recall where they were sitting on any one night and what they had ordered. He vividly remembers the time Jeff Buckley, introduced to the Piccolo by performance artist Penny Arcade, nodded off after ordering a lasagne and left without paying his bill. When he returned to Australia some time later he was back at the Piccolo and was promptly reminded by Mr Bianchi that he had done a skip.

“He was a bit embarrassed and of course he paid up,” Mr Bianchi said.

Rosyln St shopkeepers have welcomed the Piccolo’s reopening and many of its regular customers have returned to enjoy its staples of great coffee and lentil soup. Local musician Robert Susz, a regular at the Piccolo in the 1980s, is excited by the reopening and “has promised to make it a regular haunt in the future.”

The Piccolo Bar, at 6 Rosyln St in Kings Cross, is now open for business and will host an official reopening party on Friday 17 February at 6pm.

By Chris Ruhle