I know I missed a foodie friday posting last week. It's been a pretty busy one, where we hadn't been home almost everyday. And I think the only time we were, we went out for sushi. Heheh...

To make up for it, I went to the Italian Festa in Leichhardt with two of the girls from last Monday night, and had a different foodie fest. Funnily enough, most the food we ate or saw weren't Italian - Dutch poffertjes, paella and Gözleme. Although there were the usual pasta dishes, chrizo and pizza being sold, the ones that I made an effort to try were the cannoli and Italian ginger bread.

The festa also had a cooking demonstration, "Nonni in Cucina" - where "grandmas in the kitchen" shared traditional Italian regional recipes with the crowd. H & I sat in for two dishes, Orecchiette con Rape and Bagna Càuda, but only had the chance to try the latter. It was a delicious Piedmont hot fondue-like dip made with garlic, anchovies, cream and olive oil.

Surrounded by Italians, immigrants and naturalized Australians alike, I started to realise how pretty full on the Italians were in character. There's an air of confidence that surrounded them that, to me, felt rather intimidating. Numerous times I was told either to "pay for taking their photo" or that I should have asked their permission. That left me feeling a bit uncomfortable taking the usual candid photos then. So I decided to stick to the usual food photos. (Find them at my Flickr here)

Anyway, the festive atmosphere around Norton St in this Little Italy suburb brightened up the stretch that is usually known for its family-run restaurants, shops and bakeries. After the festa ended, the girls and I were joined by Lee for dinner at Bar Italia.