It's tiramisu and timballo for two hundred with music and mayhem by Nicki Bomba and his reggae funk band as the Bortolotto family lunch gets in to full swing in Melbourne.

Olimpia Bortolotto's St Kilda restaurant was quite an institution in its day and many mourned its departure when Olimpia and her husband Lino decided to give the restaurant game away. Retirement didn't last long. They were lured back into the business with the offer of running Cecconi's - a luxuriously appointed venue in the Crown complex overlooking the river. Olimpia and family (two daughters and twin granddaughters) haven't looked back.

Part of the fun of starting all over again is re-instituting the Bortolotto family lunches (il giorno della famiglia)... when an extended family (old customers and new) join the clan for a six course meal, with plenty of music and dancing. Highlights of the menu include Olimpia's timballo, a luscious pasta pie featuring a classic bolognese sauce... and Olimpia's signature dessert, tiramisu.

Cecconi's
Shop 8
8 Whiteman Street
Southbank VIC 3006
tel: 03 9292 6887
fax 03 9682 4211.