Colosi family opens second Grappa restaurant in Sydney's Rocks district

After 27 years in business, the Colosi family has turned Grappa into a two-address story, opening a second restaurant and bar at 107-109 George Street in The Rocks. The move gives the Leichhardt institution a bigger stage at one of Sydney’s most recognisable precincts, with room for more than 200 guests across two levels inside an iconic sandstone building Grappa says was originally a bakehouse.

Charlie Colosi and Virginie Colosi are front and centre in the expansion, alongside their two daughters, extending a business that began in 1999 and spent more than 25 years on Norton Street. Grappa says the name is a tribute to Charlie Colosi’s father, and Charlie has said he believes his late father would be proud to see how far the family business has come. That sense of continuity is what makes the opening feel bigger than a standard restaurant launch: this is a family using a second site to turn longevity into momentum.

What regulars will recognise is the Grappa formula. The menu leans on handmade pasta, salt-baked fish, and the kind of Italian hospitality that built the original room in Leichhardt. What is new is the setting. The Rocks location brings glimpses of the Harbour Bridge, a restored heritage shell, and a far more expansive dining room than the original Norton Street venue. Grappa says the new space brings its signature hospitality, handmade Italian cooking, and celebrated wine and grappa collection to the harbour’s edge.

The opening also lands in a precinct that has already seen high-profile Italian names move through its dining landscape. Rosetta Ristorante had a presence in The Rocks, and Neil Perry opened Gran Torino in Double Bay in August 2025, a reminder that Sydney’s Italian scene keeps being reshaped by big-name projects and sharp site choices. Grappa is betting on a different kind of draw: family continuity, a well-known brand, and a location that can serve both locals and visitors.

For Sydney diners, the significance is straightforward. Grappa has not simply added another restaurant; it has extended a 1999 family business from Norton Street to George Street, and in doing so it has given The Rocks a new Italian address with history already baked in.