La Piccola Grosseria& Italian Deli

A pocket-sized Italian grocery and deli on Banna Avenue, run by a brother and sister, that functions as a working larder for Griffith's Italian households. The shelves and cold cases carry the staples of an Italian pantry, from cured smallgoods and cheeses to dried and fresh pasta, biscotti, tinned goods and coffee, much of it hard to find outside the region's specialist shops. At the counter, gourmet panini are built to order and espresso is poured for the regulars who treat the place as much as a meeting point as a shop. It also runs occasional tastings of local smallgoods and cheeses, a nod to the district's producers. Small, unshowy and genuinely used by the community it serves, it is the kind of neighbourhood alimentari that has largely disappeared from Australian country towns but survives here on the strength of Griffith's Italian food culture.