Saturday, 6 March, we see the first opening of a brand-new venture by serial restauranteur and veteran of the Far North Queensland food scene. Paul Papagelou opens the doors to this brand new dining venue, Lemoncello's, taking up residence at the south end of Cairns busy esplanade. For thirty years, Paul has put his personal touch on a series of notable eateries, from his start in the region in 1991 in Orchid Plaza, then the esplanade, to opening Chianti's at Trinity Beach. Lemoncello’s sees him again embrace his love of Italian cuisine, with a strong leaning to the Italian favourites that have won over his many followers over the years.
"I'm thrilled to be back on the esplanade doing Italian food again, says Paul. Nearly 20 years of my time here in Cairns has been around Italian food. I've wanted to open an Italian again. I couldn't look past this great venue here on the esplanade.
"People familiar with what I did at Trinity will recognise the menu we have here, pizza, pasta and a lot of Italian meals.
"The only significant difference is we will be open for breakfast and lunch; we will operate as a cafeteria with some great coffee and grab and go options for the day time.”
The restaurant has been completely renovated and will seat 60 inside and out. The style matches the food offering and is modern and crisp, featuring an eclectic gallery of black and white enlargements featuring images of Italians and Italian culture.
When discussing the menu, Paul cannot hide his enthusiasm, describing the many mouthwatering dishes that will be available.
"We have taken a lot of our old favourites and some real classics.
"Spaghetti meatballs, all house-made, some wonderful seafood pastas, and special crab meat and blue cheese arancini.
"Also, Prawn and scallops in a rose sauce, we had people who holidayed in Trinity just to have that dish!" he recalls.
“We will be offering a local seafood salad; everything is old school, and all our seafood is local, and our steak is from the tablelands.
"We called it Lemoncello's to carry on the tradition from Chianti's, another Italian alcohol. We will have limoncellos for people to try, and we are even making our own. We have a great Italian Chef joining us, up from Canberra, we have worked together before.
“We'd love for everyone to pop by and see what we're up to. Doors open from 7.00 am and will be open all day until around 9.00 pm. We look forward to seeing some of the old familiar faces and some new ones too!”
Lemoncello's Cafeteria and Pizzeria is at 57 Esplanade, Cairns City QLD 4870 tel: (07) 4051 5125
