Gemelli Italian

An institution among pizza and pasta lovers on the Gold Coast, Gemelli Italian has finally made its way to Brisbane, and brought its Nutella bomba dessert with it. A glam, split-level space with dark wooden archways and a patterned ceiling, the venue features a large marble bar at one end, but that’s not the only spot pouring drinks—right next door is Bar Tano, an opulent aperitivo bar decked out in green marble polished concrete and shiny mirrors. 

With a menu much the same as the original Gold Coast spot, start things off with some antipasti, before making the difficult choice of whether to order pizza or pasta. For us it's between the slow-cooked oxtail and pork shin ragu with rigatoni and the Roma pizza topped with fior di latte, prosciutto di parma and burrata cheese.

If neither takes your fancy , there’s also the secondi dishes—think Vitello Saltimbocca, prosciutto di parma-wrapped veal pan fried in white wine and garlic, or the Melanzane alla parmigiana, a lasagna-like dish of layers of eggplant, buffalo mozzarella and Napoli sauce baked to perfection. You also definitely want to save room for the deep-fried Nutella calzone sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar and served up with vanilla gelato for dessert.

Image credit: Supplied