"I am the first in the world to celebrate it - because of where we are," Mr Pancotti said.
He is part of a global family of Italian chefs and has been part of the global IDIC family of chefs since it began, and every January 17 he creates something "special".
He hosted last night's celebration at the Dough Pizzeria, which neighbours the Switch Cafe Roastery in Carlyle St that he moved to last August and which comes under the Molto Italian Kitchen business he created.
This year's global menu theme?
Pizza.
"This has not been done before - it has usually been something more staple, like risottos," he said.
And, as his colleagues spread across the globe would also pursue, it came down to interpretation.
Living in Napier, and close to the sea, he took a seafood direction and used mussels as a staple ingredient.
But no mozzarella was involved.
"Parmesan works so much better with mussels - for the flavour."
He is as passionate about his cooking (which he embarked on 29 years ago) as he is about making something special for what was a special day for Italian chefs world-wide.
"For me it is always an honour to do this and I love giving people the opportunity to taste real Italian food."
Real Italian food with the unique touch of "great" local produce.
Mr Pancotti grew up in Milan in a family where food was at the forefront as they ran a deli, and he took up a five-year course at a chef school in Milan before taking on a role at Italy's first Michelin-star restaurant.
He went on to work in Singapore, China, Switzerland, Australia and India, and in 2003 he guested as a chef at a restaurant in Auckland. He had his first taste of the Bay two years later when he took on a similar position at Craggy Range - which was where he met his future wife and business partner Sass Russell.
After a couple of years travelling the world they settled in Napier and started up Milk and Honey in Ahuriri.
He also became co-owner of Pizza Pazzi, which is next door, and in 2011 he won the New Zealand section of the Global Pizza Challenge.
Food and cooking is a passion for Mr Pancotti and he puts plenty into it, as he did yesterday as he prepared to be the first Italian chef in the world to celebrate a unique international event.
And for the next week he will continue to create the "specially created" mussel-influenced pizza for anyone passing to try.