Start them early!
Cheese, cheese and more cheese!
We had grand, slightly tentative plans for this years Primo Italiano Festival mainly due to me thinking that it was on last week and getting up early only to discover that I was a week early. Then the weather forecast for the weekend was foreboding and warned of occasional showers which meant that Plan B’s were set in place until we awoke on a gorgeous Sunday morning to find a sky blue and the sun strong and beaming.
Sweet goodies at Bertoni Casalinga
Primo Italiano is an event which is part of the Sydney Italian Festival where everyone is invited to participate in an Italian wedding from the proposal, the ceremony, the reception to the farewell. And in true Italian fashion, food features prominently which is another lure for us.
The Rose Fountain
Housed along three intersecting streets in East Sydney (Stanley, Yurong and Riley) and dubbed “Little Italy”, the main focus and the place where everyone wants their photo taken is the Rose Fountain. You can toss coins and make wishes and all coins are to be donated to charity. We take care of all matters culinary first and scope out what is best on offer. There are red and white checkered tablecloth covered tables but most people are sitting on the kerb and eating or standing and doing so. Securing a coveted table is left to Teena with her pram whilst Gina, Mr NQN and I track down the food and stand in some very long but thankfully moving queues. We try a range of dishes and sit down to try our meals.
Beppi’s Octopus $5
The Beppis Octopus in a tomato based sauce with polenta square is delicious and cooked beautifully tender. It’s a small serve but also a small and reasonable price.
Proscuitto Pizza $9
The pizzas aren’t bad although they’re a little thicker in the base than I’d like although Teena suggests that this is because they are made to be picked up and eaten with the hands. The Proscuitto is my favourite although the Margarita isn’t too bad and is very cheesy.
Margarita pizza $9
Eumundi Smokehouse Ribs: 3 ribs for $8
The item that had hungry queuers salivating when I walked past carrying these were the glistening, saucy ribs from the Eumundi Smokehouse. They’re heavily smoked and require a bit of chewing power as the meat is hard to get off the bone (I admit I prefer the meat softer).
Salt and Pepper Calamari from Seafood Eat It $12
The dish of the day however is the salt and pepper calamari. Lightly battered and not greasy, it is beautifully tender inside and we’re impressed by the quality given the outdoors setting.
Spot the accordion player!
We eye the gelato queue and it’s long so we give up our table as we’ve finished eating and seek other pastures for dessert.
Formaggi Ocello
Cheese wrapped in chestnut leaves
On the way, we stop by the Formaggi Ocello stand which has all manner of fabulous cheeses and I’m particularly intrigued by the chestnut leaf wrapped cheese. We taste a little and it’s rich and nutty with a strong taste from being aged in caves and wrapped in the chestnut leaves which is a more traditional way of cultivating the mould instead of the modern way where penicillin is injected. The leaves also help keep the moisture in and impart their own flavours. There’s also Panforte di Siena & air freighted ricarrelli bisciuts from Siena, Italy and long packets of Castiglioni spaghetti.
Tiramisu and coffee $8.50
Custard filled donut
We take a brief break up the road at Giotti cafe on Stanley Street for coffee and dessert. The Tiramisu isn’t bad at all but the custard donut is quite dry, and not really donut-like. More like a bread roll that has some custard inside and a slightly donutty outer so the resultant texture is dry rather than soft and delicious. The Chinotto hits the spot though in the warm weather.
Kid’s gnocchi making classes
Wedding dancing
Of course the main attraction apart from the food is the Italian Wedding and it was apparently an actual legal wedding that was taking place in front of us. We watch as the bride and groom along with their wedding party perform dances.
The bride then passes the bouquet onto one of the bridesmaids who then scatters the roses amongst the audience.
A lucky rose recipient
A lovely ending to a great day outdoors with not a lick of rain. Viva Italiano indeed!
The Primo Italiano Festival was held on Sunday, the 24th of May 2009 in East Sydney and is part of the Sydney Italian Festival.
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32 Comments | Add your own
Looks like you had a fun day! This is what I love about Sydney that we get to have a taste of many different culture through out the year, especially the food part
I haven’t been the stanley street for aaages. I used to frequent a restaurant, 2 storey that had a cafe underneath and a restaurant upstairs where there was only about 6 things on the menu, and a green salad and cordial served. They had an amazing crumbed chicken/veal with pizzaiola sauce and dripping with cheese.. oh good lord what was it’s name?
What a fun post. It makes me feel like I was there too. And thank you especially for bringing octopus and calamari to my computer screen. There are few things in life I love more than these.
The ribs! The octopus! The cheese! The desserts! Wish I was there …
How fun!! I love how they have kid’s gnocchi making classes – that’s very cute!
Oh no, I bummed that I missed this! Looks like a fun day out
How fun! I love food festivals. All the free samples and different variety of foods..yum yum! I went for a foodie festival at Hampton Court Palace today as well =) The octopus looks really delicious.
Oh looks like so much fun! I had fun trying to spot the accordion player too
I’m not sure the Melbourne Italian Festival is anything as good as this, will have to suss it out one year!
x
The rose fountain is so beautiful.
I’ve never seen cheese rounds that big before haha
Was it a real wedding? Could anyone go?
I’m loving that octopus and the calamari! Yums! Great photos! They look like memories from fun times, thanks for sharing them
@ Liss it’s called Bill & Toni’s and it’s still there!
Would you believe I’ve got almost identical photos to yours! Though I’m kicking myself for not trying the calamari rings – I saw so many people walk past with a delicious-smelling plate of them. Your pictures of the wedding really capture the spirit of the event as well!
Thanks Reemski! Hoorah, I think a trip is well overdue then… I’ll take the kids
Liss, you’re thinking of Bill & Tony’s and it’s still there.
We went last year and also fell in love with the salt and pepper calamari but couldn’t find out which restaurant provided it. If anyone knows, please tell.
Oh this looks like so much fun! Especially the Italian wedding! Thank heavens for the clear weather. Drooling over the salt and pepper calimari…
Gnocchi classes for kids is such a great idea! Like edible playdoh?
the prosciutto pizza looks amazing, almost like salad on a pizza! and the cheese in chestnut leaves! SWOON! If I had all these in my wedding day, I’ll be one happy bride!
btw, I’ve got an award for you at my blog
Fancy those people having a wedding at a festival. They must have been very outgoing! The selection of cheeses looks amazing. Did you take any home?
That picture of the calamari just made my Monday a little better. Is Seafood eat here a restaurant, cafe or more of a fast take-away joint?
Looks like a lot of fun! I wouldn’t mind joining the kids classes! hehehe…
It certainly is a great day, we went last year but had another engagement this year. Lorraine , do you know the date for the Norton St Italian Festa for 2009?
was great fun last year. i didn’t get a chance to go this year but looks like lots of fun again.
Oh the cheese gromit, the cheese!!!
I can’t believe I totally forgot about the Primo Italian festival. Now I have to wait another year. Grr.
OOhhh how funnn! Love the chhhhhhhheeeeeeeeeeeeeesssssee XD I wonder how long it will take to eat one of those huge drums… mmmmmm
hehe..i was there eating baked eggplant from the octopus shop.. I had this eggplant last year and it was so good.. so i went for it again this yeah..haha
the ribs look so yummy but I am same as you, prefer softer ^ ^
I just love your website. Pity it’s so colourful as I view it each day at work, it takes a while to load but I see gorgeous images and lots of colours. Have to hide it from people at work. Anyway, thanks for some amazing recipes and ideas. I am really excited about visiting Fort Dennison Restaurant as I am so into going to unusual places. Didn’t know about the Enliven card, so thanks for that and also advising price of the ferry return trip – all helps. I live on the Central Coast so am a bit of a foodie social director to my foodie friends at work. The main reason for this comment is that I went with a friend to Nelson’s Bay to a place I have been dying to try. It is a restaurant based on the El Buli Restaurant in Spain, the no. 1 restaurant in the world. I heard about it through my entertainment book and booked a month in advance. Well, my friend and I were simply blown away by the experience. I cannot possibly describe what taste sensations were experienced through the night. The staff were so attentive and happy to have us photography our food. I will not give too much away but as a lover of fine food and wine you simply must do yourself a favour and go. After this experience, at $80 for a 12 course meal I will find it difficult to compare against restaurants that charge $120 for degustation meals. If you want more info. about this I am happy for you to call me. I feel this is a secret at the moment but won’t be for long and hope they won’t jack up the prices. They are a lovely married couple, passionate about their cooking, personal, reasonable prices, and just want to make their customers happy. Carl actually pulls up a chair at the end of the meal to have a chat. They will only take a max of 14 people per night. I’m raving on. We stayed at the Oaks Pacific Blue Resort for the night (Salamander Bay), and Ritual Organics was the highlight of our weekend.
oh I love Italian food and your photos surely make the most of it. Nice festival !
That looks like so much fun! I looove Italian food.
Hi Yas-Thanks! We had a great time thankfully helped along by the weather
Hi Liss-Me too! It used to be “the” place to go to. It’s Bill and Toni’s and we would have loved to have gone there for a sweet but it was sooo crowded there! The veal sounds delicious!
Hi Leela-Thankyou! That’s such a compliment
Hehe you’re welcome!
Hi Cakelaw -Hehe next year perhaps?
Hi Anita-I know, I wanted to pretend to be a kid again!
Hi Betty-What a shame! I guess the weather forecast wasn’t looking too promising though so I’m sure a lot of ppl made other plans.
Hi pigpigscorner-Me too! That sounds wonderful, I can’t wait to read all about it!
Hi Iron Chef Shellie-Hehe cool! You have a good eye! I’m sure the Melbourne one will be great!
Hi fickle red-It was! Hehe yes they were massive-had to be seen to be believed!
Yes apparently so and everyone there was invited to watch 
Hi Marta-Oh what I wouldn’t do for some more of the calamari! Thankyou, it was a great day indeed
Hi Reemski-I think it will be there forever!
Hi Belle-Haha isn’t that funnny-even down to the accordian player! I followed the yummy smells-there were so many!
Thankyou!
Hi Liss-I bet everything is as like you remembered it!
Hi Belinda-It’s such an institution I think there’d be protests if they closed!
The place had a sign “Seafood Eat It” but I couldn’t really find a restaurant called that here in Sydney. I’d love to know too!
Hi Steph-It was really fun I have to say and I loved the Italian wedding-the perfect ending!
Hi Y-The kids get all the fun!
Hi Sophia-Yes and I can never say no to proscuitto
Thankyou so much for the award! 
Hi Arwen-Hehe I think so! Although you could certainly say that you had a very, very large italian wedding! I wanted to buy some reggiano but didn’t want to carry it around all day and then forget at the end!
Hi Mei-Hehe cool! I am not quite sure where it is or what it is. It was superb calamari though!
Hi Alexandra-Me too!
I’m not that tall so that might help!
Hi Matilda-Ah what a shame! Ah yes it’s supposed to be October 29th this year!
Hi Simon-What a shame! It was loads of fun!
Hi Trisha-Haha yes the cheese-there was no shortage of wonderful cheese
Aww no, well there’s the Italian Festival in October so you don’t have to wait that long 
Hi FFichiban-Haha I bet you could totally give it a go!
Hi Bean Sprout-Yes I love soft ribs. They make me feel like cromagnon too when eating them!
Hi Connie-Hehe thanks so much for your lovely and thoughtful comment. If I am in the area I will look it up, thankyou for the recommendation! I absolutely love reader recs!
Hisnooky doodle-Thanks, it was loads of fun!
Hi anna-It was indeed. Me too!
how sweet to watch a wedding taking place in front of all those, and oh the abundant food. How delicious! Surely eating way too much is the right thing to do at an ITALIAN event. hehehe
Hi Maria-I know, it felt like such a treat! Haha yes I say go the way of the locals
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