Messina Eats starts this weekend and we're going back to our roots.

Our Head Chef Donato Toce has quite the colourful culinary history. After training in Melbourne in traditional pizza and pasta restaurants, he opened his own trattoria in 2001 with best friend Cordell Khoury. In 2007 Donato moved to Sydney where he became head chef at A Tavola, with pasta being his speciality, before taking a leap into the world of gelato, across the street at our original Darlinghurst store.

Cordell went onto Brisbane where he's run Beccofino for the past 14 years, since opening Julius in South Brisbane, both of which have earned a mass following as Brisbane's best Italian food.

We thought it was about time to get the band back together, with Cordell and Donato jumping back into the kitchen after all these years, supported by the Messina and Beccofino chefs.

The team will be rolling and throwing pizza dough, cooking gnocchetti and pappardelle, as well as serving traditional tiramisu for dessert, all from 12pm on the 5th - 6th April in our Rosebery carpark.

The traditional margherita and Cacciatorini salami pizza's will be cooked in a wood fire oven after a 48-hour ferment, the pasta will be made fresh to order and there will be calamari fritti to start the meal off with.

We're also turning our carpark into your Nonna's dining room. Long trestle tables will be adorned with red and white checkered table cloths, covered in plastic of course, so there's plenty of space to bring allllll the family, the louder the better.

WHEN: Friday 5th - Saturday 6th April

TRADING HOURS: 12pm - late

WHERE: Messina HQ — 58 Mentmore Avenue, Rosebery