Alfredo La Spina is the owner and operator of Bar Idda on Lygon Street, Brunswick East. The Sicilian stalwart has been open for 16 years now, serving heritage-style dishes to Lygon’s locals and beyond. In the kitchen, La Spina draws on his training, much of it from his Sicilian immigrant parents, who taught him about growing, preserving and producing classic Sicilian food – including, of course, the art of sausage making.
Now, La Spina passes that knowledge onto you at his sell-out MFWF event, Sicilian Sausage: Making, Curing and Cooking. Here’s how he does it:
Give us the rundown on your event, how did it come together in the planning stages?
Our event for MFWF 2025 was a salami and sausage making workshop. The day begins with house cannoli and stove coffee. I start with an introduction of family stories and then class begins. The workshop goes from seasoning the products to spices and other ingredients used. Then people get there hands dirty with mixing and filling. Throughout the morning I give tips and ideas on how people could be doing this in their own home and why we should be keeping this tradition alive. Then it’s followed by a lunch, which is 90% pork based, with the sausages made on the day grilled, a pasta made with the salami mix and Bar Idda’s house capocollo (cured pork neck). All this was paired with Sicilian wines throughout the three-course lunch.
I first came up with this idea before opening the restaurant 16 years ago. I always had in mind of producing food I grew up with and sharing it and salami and sausage making was a big part of that. I suppose you could call that our mission statement.
And on the day, how did it go, what was the highlight?
The day went great as always, people who come to this workshop are predominately foodies generally and are very keen to learn new things and get there hands dirty. Highlights are always the family stories. Sicilians are crazy about food so there are a lot of funny ones.
Any curveballs or challenges along the way, or perhaps something new you learned?
The only curveball we face normally is that, we sometimes over fill the class and need to bring in new dates for other weekends. I’m not sure if that’s a curve ball. It’s a good problem I suppose. There is always new learnings. I’ve been doing these workshops for 16 years and now there is a new generation coming through who ask different questions and are more sensitive to some of the stories. So I keep things lighter these days. It’s not a bad thing, it’s just progession. I was taught by a generation of immigrants from Sicily so things were slightly different back then.
Every year the question we’re asked most around event submission time is about price points and inclusions, what can you tell us about how you laned here?
With our price point, it’s gone up over the years. In the beginning it was pretty cheap for the day I was offering. It’s an intense day on Bar Idda. People never question it at all. When tickets go up for sale it’s explained clearly so people can really evaluate what there getting for there money and what to expect. Every year we discuss what we should be charging. In the times we live in we have to evaluate and estimate what we think people can spend and afford. Remember things like this are a luxury so people need to get what they pay for. So we work from that.
Everyone wants their event to stand out, what advice would you give to other hospitality operators when they’re brainstorming for their next event?
I think if you want your event to stand out, It needs to fit in to the concept of your venue. Is it something you love to do? People need to feel that the event is worthy of such a great festival.
How did you promote your event?
We used our social media to promote the event. We also use Eventbrite which worked well. It’s all run and managed by our team. We send out our own newsletter through a database we have, but most of all word of mouth from each class every year is popular. We run about three classes every winter outside of MFWF, too, and we keep a list of enquiries from the year prior where we tend to fill up from that alone.
What about the best event you’ve been to recently, what made it so memorable?
Recently, I attended an event in Myrtleford, north-east of Victoria called La Fiera. Its a Italian festival dedicated to the Italian immigration culture that has left its mark on the region. Its a great weekend away and the food is great. A lot of the food stalls are traditional from particular regions of Italy. It normally runs in May, a beautiful time of the year with the autumn colours.
Bar Idda, 132 Lygon St, Brunswick East, baridda.com.au, @baridda