Find Generous Focaccias and Familiar Faces at Gladesville’s New Cetto Delicatessen

When ordering a cappuccino at Cetto Delicatessen, longtime Gladesville residents do a double take. “Customers see us and go, ‘You look familiar’,” says co-owner Christian Colosi. 

“Then they say, ‘Oh my god, you used to wait on us when you were kids’,” co-owner Montana Colosi adds. “It’s a Looking for Alibrandi moment. We’re all grown up, back in hospo.”

The brother and sister duo worked at their parents’ seafood restaurant as teens. Their father, Giorgio Colosi, ran Gladesville institution La Perla for 40 years. Now he’s in the kitchen at Cetto Deli, compiling tiramisu, which he and his wife Vivian make for the cafe every Friday. When the siblings decided to go into business together, “there was no doubt we would do it as a family,” says Montana.

“Dad is probably one of the most passionate people about food you’ll ever meet,” says Christian. “Food was everything to him, number one, and unknowingly it’s ingrained in us.”

Their 78-year-old dad also makes schnitzels on Wednesdays, and pesto for the deli and shop, too. Their mum Vivian makes the cannoli found beside the coffee machine, and the focaccia sandwiches for a steady stream of customers.

There are six or seven focaccia options on the menu. The best seller is the number one, a classic Italian with melt-in-your-mouth slices of prosciutto, smooth buffalo mozzarella, verdant pesto, chunky sun-dried tomatoes and crunchy rocket.

“I think that will always stay on the menu,” says Montana. Another winner, she says, is number three, Cetto Tutti, “which has everything on it – all the meats, all the cheeses.”

Deli and grocery produce is Christian’s domain. The focus is on high quality imported goods, such as Spanish anchovies and aged manchego, Portuguese sardines and English cheddar, Italian pasta and olives, along with the best local supplies. I spy Barbetta sausage rolls, Mount Zero lentils, Drunken Sailor relish and cookie dough from Dough Days by the Cut Lunch Deli team.

“We have snap-frozen dough balls from Italy, and those sell like hotcakes,” says Montana. “We’ve become this pizza-making hotspot.”

“Coles is right behind us, so we wanted products that differentiated us,” says Christian, who used to work as a veterinary pharmacist. “It’s been a very quick learning curve – six months ago, I’d never used a [meat] slicer in my life.”

The venue stretches from the Victoria Road main entrance through to the laneway that leads to Gladesville Shopping Village. Its Negroni-red facade is unmissable whichever door you enter, and the long, spacious building easily caters for customers who want to linger over a hot drink or browse the produce shelves.

“Gladesville always needed a delicatessen,” says Christian. “We grew up here, so we’ve seen it evolve. [At La Perla] people would come in to see Dad for a coffee and they would stay six hours. When we closed that, there was nothing that really filled that void.”

Since opening last August, they’ve bought in some unusual produce, too. One example is the Peking duck salami, from Papandrea Fine Foods, which has become super popular.

“It really tastes like a Peking duck pancake, but in salami form,” says Montana. “We have a lot of European customers, and I did not think Peking duck salami would go off here. It’s good to know we’re the spot where they can come and try things like this.”

Giorgio briefly interrupts. He wants to check in with his children, his bosses, to find out how they’d like him to present the tiramisu. He appears to relish this role reversal.

“He absolutely loves it,” says Montana. Though most people in Gladesville call him Giorgio or George, their dad’s birth name is Concetto. Christian and Montana used the “cetto” part to name the deli after their father.

“One week after we opened, we tried to get him to do something and the first thing he said was, ‘Don’t forget whose name is on the door’,” says Christian. “I was like, that’s our first mistake. He’s going to remind us every time.”

Cetto Delicatessen
229 Victoria Road, Gladesville

Hours:
Mon to Fri 7am–5pm
Sat & Sun 8am–4pm

cettodeli.com
@cetto.deli