Lygon Street’s last butcher has a new owner with a familiar name
Customers of the legendary Donati’s butcher shop in Carlton feared the end was nigh when its founder announced his retirement. But their prayers may have been answered by a buyer who wants business as usual.
Updated ,first published
Donati’s Fine Meats, a fixture of Lygon Street since 1972, will continue to trade as a butcher shop with a new owner – who has a name familiar to many on the strip – taking the reins from founder Leo Donati, who is retiring.
When the 77-year-old Donati announced his plans to sell the business and retire late last year, it sparked worry that the last butcher shop of Carlton’s Little Italy would also become history.
But Jamie Valmorbida, part of the family who own King & Godfree and several other businesses nearby, has purchased the shop with the intent to continue supplying pork sausages, veal and other meat to its many regular customers. Significantly, he will not be changing the name of the shop.
“The shop’s already thriving. My job is to protect that,” said Valmorbida. “Over time, we think the brand has potential, and I’m excited to explore that in the future. But the focus right now is doing the fundamentals right.”
Donati’s reputation is for more than just excellent meat. The shop is well-known for playing classical music all day, walls hung with artworks honouring cows and pigs, fresh flowers on the counter, and conversation spanning current affairs, books, composers and more.
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Sign upValmorbida takes possession on January 30 and will work with Donati’s son, Marcello, on a transition. Most of the art and Leo’s playlists come with the sale.
Butcher Sam Spagnuolo, an employee of more than 20 years, will remain while Mark Glenn, executive chef of several Valmorbida venues, will oversee operations. There are plans to recruit a head butcher, and build a team of both current and past team members.
“It’s impossible to replace Leo and Marcello but creating a unique service experience is going to be a priority,” said Valmorbida.
While he wouldn’t expand on his ideas for the shop’s future, including new products, Valmorbida said any changes would be six to 12 months away.
“The beauty of Donati’s is what’s there. We’re not going to change the core, but we will try some things around the side,” he added.
Marcello hopes the shop’s next chapter will “retain the integrity of what we’ve built but the Valmorbidas add their own history and imprint onto the business to make sure it has another life”. He added: “I think it’s really important that we continue to have a butcher shop in Lygon Street.”
The sale came about when Valmorbida was picking up a ham for Christmas and Leo jokingly asked if he would buy the business. “I said: ‘You’ve planted the seed’ and it was genuine. From there, it moved really quickly.”
The two families have long orbited the same world of Carlton’s Lygon Street. The Valmorbida name has been linked with King & Godfree, a deli and continental grocer on the corner of Faraday Street, since 1955. In more recent years, the family’s portfolio has skewed towards hospitality, much like the rest of Lygon Street.
Their businesses include rooftop bar Johnny’s Green Room, Pidapipo gelato shops across Melbourne, and restaurants within King & Godfree, which has been closed since July 2024 for further changes and will reopen in stages, beginning February.
“The timing, everything lining up, [Jamie] restarting what’s across the road, preserving what’s there – it’s serendipitous,” said Marcello.
Emma Breheny – Emma is Good Food’s Melbourne eating out and restaurant editor and editor of The Age Good Food Guide.