To celebrate Italian Week, Jupiters Hotel & Casino’s newest restaurant, Cucina Vivo has added a spectacular Pesce al sale (fish baked in salt crust) as well as a selection of invigorating cocktails to the restaurant’s menu for a strictly limited time only. The Pesce al sale is a dish that originated in Sicily and highlights both the traditional cuisine from the region as well as the restaurant’s food philosophy. The locally sourced Gold Band snapper is baked in a salt crust with rosemary and lemon and served with rocket and pear salad and roasted Kipfler potatoes. The extraordinary dish offers a side of showmanship as the waiter cracks open the hard salt crust and fillets the fish at your table. Cucina Vivo’s bar is also mixing up Italian-inspired cocktails that draw on fresh produce and punchy flavours. Indulge in Italy’s favourite aperitif, the Basilico, with lime, strawberries, basil, Campari rum and lemonade or be whisked off to the Amalfi Coast with the Rosmajito; rosemary, lemon, peach puree, agave syrup, rum and soda.

Ristorante Fellini at Marina Mirage is hosting an exclusive five-course degustation dinner with matching Italian wines for nine lucky diners on Tuesday June 2. The special dinner will be hosted by the restaurant’s co-owner, Carlo Percuoco, rounding out the table to ten. The feast begins with Duo Di Mare (duo of sea), featuring a choice of hand-cut salmon or grilled Hervey Bay scallops paired with a 2013 Cantine Pra Soave Veneto before moving on to the second course, Duo Di Carne (duo of meat). Enjoy a choice of thinly sliced raw venison rolled with gorgonzola and mascarpone or air dried salted Wagyu beef thinly sliced and served with a concasse of tomato topped with arugula and balsamic vinegar. The course is matched with a 2012 Zenato Valpolicella Classico Veneto. Next up is pasta with twice cooked duck and vegetable ragu that is served alongside a 2011 Antinori Peppoli Toscana and a choice of char-grilled South Australian Coorong beef tenderloin or rosemary and sea salt crusted Tatiara lamb rack matched with a 2012 Chiappini Felciano ‘Bolgheri’ Toscana. Fine Italian cheeses round the meal out, with a course of parmigiano reggiano, pecorino affienato, and gorgonzola piccante, served with fresh pear, walnuts, lavosh crisps and cotognata. The degustation dinner is $150 per person.

If you’d prefer to celebrate Italian Week your way, Gemelli Italian in Broadbeach dishes up beautifully authentic, tasty Italian nosh including an appetising selection of primi (starters), more than a dozen delectable woodfired pizzas, fresh house-made pasta and hearty mains. If you simply cannot decide, opt for the Banchetto which includes a selection of Gemelli favourites for $60 per person. Also in Broadbeach, Mario’s Italian Restaurant & Pizzeria has become somewhat of an institution around these parts serving Italian classics since 1989. Meanwhile, if your celebration is an intimate dinner for two, Cavalier Bar and Supper in Burleigh Heads is your place. The fare is beautifully simple and made with seasonal produce that is prepared with authenticity, honesty and pure Italian passion. Start your meal with the velvety San Daniele prosciutto before moving onto Cavalier’s more substantial selections. If however the thought of having to don some actual pants that aren’t of the fleecy tracksuit variety isn’t overly appealing, its sister venue, Justin Lane Pizzeria & Bar, now deliver! Much on Justin Lane’s famous pizzas including the Four Cheese specialty that combines provolone, gorgonzola, fior di latte and buffalo mozzarella or the ever-popular smoked pork belly with pear, provolone and chives, without having to leave the comfort of your living room. On the northern end, Ioesco Cafe Cucina at Sanctuary Cove has legions of loyal patrons including the likes of celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay, who dined here on a recent trip to the Gold Coast.

Beyond delicious pizza and pasta, the Italians are also responsible for gelato so no Italian celebration would be complete without a trip to Gelato Messina at The Strand at Coolangatta. Buon Appetito!