BISTRO LELUCO CAPTURES COASTAL CROWN

An industry can deliver a meal, but consistent hospitality is built through daily decisions about service, ingredients, and how a room feels. For Antonio Rappazzo and Michele Trizzino, that work is rooted in years of operating New York restaurants and nightlife venues, now applied to a small coastal Maine bistro.

On Sunday, October 18, 2026, at 9 p.m. ET, Culinary Confidential features the co-owners of Bistro Leluco in South Portland (Maine). The couple met in Manhattan’s restaurant industry and later worked as operations people for the Almond restaurant group. Antonio also partnered with Eric Lemonides and Jason Weiner on L&W Oyster Co., a Flatiron seafood restaurant that shifted between daytime clam-shack service and evening oyster-bar dining. Michele’s experience includes operational and management roles at high-volume New York nightlife and hospitality venues, including The Box, Gilded Lily, and others.

They relocated to the South Portland area and, in January 2023, opened Bistro Leluco. The 36-seat restaurant is a Mediterranean-inspired neighborhood bistro focused on seasonal, local ingredients, a full bar program, and neighborhood hospitality. The name combines the first letters of their three children’s names: Leo, Lucca, and Coco. In July 2023 the Maine Sunday Telegram gave the restaurant a four-star review, noting its polished French- and Italian-influenced cooking with New England ingredients and the owners’ hands-on approach to the space.

This week’s episode looks at the practical transition from New York operators to independent restaurant owners in a smaller market, how they staff and run a tight 36-seat room, and the day-to-day work of maintaining high service standards in a coastal Maine setting.

About the host

Christina Cates has more than two decades of New York City hospitality experience. She holds a restaurant management degree from The Art Institute of New York City and previously served as Assistant Restaurant Director at Tavern on the Green and as General Manager at The Palm and Almond Tribeca. She brings that operational perspective to weekly conversations on Culinary Confidential.

Tune in

• Show: Culinary Confidential
• Date & Time: Sunday, October 18, 2026, 9:00 p.m. ET
• Broadcast: AM 970 The Answer
• Digital: Streaming on all major podcast platforms

The conversation centers on the concrete work of running a small, high-standard bistro: reading the room, executing seasonal menus, and carrying New York operational discipline into a Maine neighborhood restaurant.

Antonio Rappazzo and Michele Trizzino are living proof that true hospitality doesn't change with the zip code; it just finds a new home.