Rocco Pantaleo (9 September 1956 – 26 March 2010) was an Italian restaurateur, businessman and philanthropist,
Biography
Pantaleo who was born in
Calabria
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, Italy emigrated to Australia in 1977 to find work. In 1985 he co-founded the restaurant chain
La Porchetta
''La Porchetta'' () is an Australian and New Zealand restaurant franchise which has become one of the biggest Italian restaurant chains in those countries. There are about 38 outlets now in Australia and New Zealand which are owned by franchise ...
with Felice Nania, specialising in
Italian cuisine
Italian cuisine (, ) is a Mediterranean cuisine#CITEREFDavid1988, David 1988, Introduction, pp.101–103 consisting of the ingredients, recipes and List of cooking techniques, cooking techniques developed across the Italian Peninsula and late ...
. By the time of his 2010 death it had grown to 80 restaurants, across Australia, New Zealand and Indonesia
In 1996, he shot dead Keith Lane. Lane had confronted Pantaleo over allegations he had indecently assaulted a teenage waitress, Lane's niece. The court found that Pantaleo had acted in self-defence, but he was convicted of indecently assaulting the waitress.
Pantaleo also had a string of driving offenses.
Pantaleo died on 26 March 2010 in a
motorcycle accident in
St Kilda, Victoria
St Kilda is an inner seaside suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, 6 km (4 miles) south-east of Melbourne's Melbourne City Centre, Central Business District, located within the City of Port Phillip Local governmen ...
, where he was driving to attend the
Melbourne Grand Prix He was 53, he resided in
Oak Park with his wife and four children
References
1956 births
2010 deaths
Australian people convicted of indecent assault
Australian people of Calabrian descent
Italian emigrants to Australia
Motorcycle road incident deaths
Road incident deaths in Victoria (state)
Australian restaurateurs
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