“If I ran the restaurant, even if I made better food or made his food better, he still wouldn’t be there and I wouldn’t be him.” - Danilo Turilli on his father, Ricky.
Telford Vice / Sea Point
PENARTH Road? You would be forgiven for not knowing where that is, nevermind how long you have lived in Sea Point. But, since December, there has been a good reason to know about this short street. Four good reasons, in fact.
The cul-de-sac of 100 or so metres between Glengariff Road and Fort Road on the side of Main Road nearest the Promenade is so nondescript it is not graced by a signboard proclaiming its name. Previously, much of the street was bordered on one side by a line of blockish private garages. A dead end indeed.
No longer. Penarth Road now buzzes with the sounds, smells and scenes of vibrant urban life. The garages are gone. They have been converted into spaces that house some of Cape Town’s most notable food options.
Lello’s offers aperitivo evenings from Monday to Saturday. Please, have the negroni; a thing of wonder built around the dazzlingly delicious house-made vermouth. Have two. But maybe not three. Add a slice of perfectly squooshy, seriously tomatoey margherita, just like nonna used to make.
What's a trattoria without a Vespa parked outside? (Photo: Telford Vice)
Then move on to Frankie Fenner to “eat proper meat” as they tell us to do, or buy some to take home and braai. Or keep going to De Vrije for a burger the size of an asteroid but exponentially more sumptuous. Wif tjips, of course. And a free ice-cream, stomach space permitting. Or reel in some fresh salmon from Delicious Fish to prepare as you wish.
They’re all there, cheek-by-jowl in a row on Penarth Road. Where once were grim garages is now a cosmopolitan cornucopia of gourmet gorgeousness.
“I’m exhausted,” Danilo Turilli says, his properly Italian eyes soft with weariness. We’re midway through Lello’s very first aperitivo session, and the place is pumping with people and pizzazz.
The Turilli famiglia — including Nila, an energetically angelic Bernese mountain dog — are in joyful attendance, bursting with colour and conversation and setting the casually classy tone. The rest of us are giddy with happiness that this oh so civilised aspect of Italian life is now available to us in Sea Point.
The Turilli famiglia, including Nila, at Lello's. (Photo: Telford Vice)
We’ve been back several times since. Invariably a Vespa or a bicycle, or both, are parked outside. What’s a trattoria without that? Several pieces of fish have been bought over the past few weeks, along with steak, chops and wors. So far there’s only been room for one burger. Doubtless there will be more.
If you’re in Sea Point you would be silly not to take advantage of this abundance of community, quality and convenience. Especially as it is devoid of the cloying pretentiousness that can make visiting other establishments on the Atlantic Seaboard something to be endured more than enjoyed.
How and why was the ugly duckling of Penarth Road transformed into a swan? The answer is in the family name.
The Turillis have been part of the city’s food scene for decades. In the aftermath of World War II, Rafaello Turilli came to Cape Town with a brother. They were from Rieti, a picture postcard town some 80 kilometres north-east of Rome that is famous as the place where basketball icon Kobe Bryant grew up. His father, Willie Sojourner, another NBA star, ended his professional career in Italy.
Rafaello was a motor mechanic who owned a small garage in Woodstock. But on Friday afternoons he would cook for officials from the Italian consulate. They came, in their sharp suits, slicked back hair and magnificent moustaches, to remind themselves what home looked, smelled and tasted like.
Rafaello Turilli looks on at Lello's. (Photo: Telford Vice)
Ricky Turilli — Rafaello’s son — was the larger-than-life owner of Scarpetta, the beloved restaurant on Roodebloem Road in Woodstock. It wasn’t fancy. Instead it was fantastic. And not only because of the fabulously unfussy Italian food. Also because Ricky was far more than merely the owner.
When you called, Ricky picked up the phone. When you arrived, Ricky welcomed you at the door with the warmth of a lifelong friend, even if he was meeting you for the first time. When you were ready to order, Ricky stood at your table, pencil poised over notebook and making excellent suggestions. While you waited, Ricky was in the kitchen cooking. When the food was ready to be served, Ricky re-emerged, plates and bowls in hand, a smile in his eyes. Scarpetta was Ricky and Ricky was Scarpetta.
Ricky Turilli gets amongst it. (Photo: Telford Vice)
But there was more to him than even the restaurant. During the Covid lockdown in 2020 and 2021, Ricky he had a radical idea: life was too short to spend it cooking. So he did the cooking, froze it, and sold it.
“He was friends with the guys at Sea Point Spar,” Danilo says. “They were kind enough to let him self his stuff there. But I always loved the deli culture and I always wanted to do it, and I had to come back from Europe because of Covid.”
So Lello’s — which honours Rafaello’s nickname — was born as a deli in De Waterkant in November 2021. Along with all sorts of fresh and prepared Italian delights, it sold Scarpetta’s finest; precooked and frozen and waiting to be popped into an oven near you.
The famiglia were, as always, central to the operation. Ricky’s wife, Melissa, was the queen of deserts. Their daughter, Chiara, a former food stylist, did much of the rest. Her brother, Danilo, a fashion photographer, got on with the practical stuff.
Chiara and Danilo Turilli. (Photo: Telford Vice)
Then, in March 2024, the beautiful man who was Ricky “The Big Boss” Turilli, the kind of magnificent human the world will always need, possessed of an irresistible and precious spirit, died. Scarpetta died with him. They were, after all, one and the same.
“If I ran the restaurant, even if I made better food or made his food better, he still wouldn’t be there and I wouldn’t be him,” Danilo says.
Lello’s lived on, albeit imperfectly, as Danilo explains: “We had 55 square metres — it was too small. And while De Waterkant is great, it’s a little bit closed off. Also, we grew up around Green Point and Sea Point. This is our hood. We just wanted to be on this side.”
A landlord came to the rescue, prompted by the boom that is sure to follow the sale of the currently derelict Ritz Hotel that looms beyond Main Road opposite Penarth.
Danilo and Chiara were convinced: “My sister and I were like, this is great, we can make something cool out of it. We spoke to our friend Andrew Nel from Frankie Fenner. Andrew and I would go hiking up the mountain, and afterwards we would stop off at Delicious Fish, who are also friends of Andrew’s. They said they would come in.
“Andrew is very good friends with Bertus Basson — he does all the meat for all his restaurants — and he agreed to open an outlet of his burger franchise. So it came about through connections and stuff like that; kind of came organically.”
Lello’s is now an indoor space of 80 square metres with an outside section of 65. It’s more than twice the size it used to be, and busy. Even on the random Tuesday when The Promenader spoke to Danilo. The place was full. A photograph of Rafaello looked down from one wall, not far from another of Ricky. And, yes, a Vespa and a bicycle were parked outside.
The Promenader
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