Restaurant Review - Dezio

Dezio is a fine dining authentic Italian restaurant in Kalyani Nagar, Pune. Owned by executive chef Dario Dezio, who has been running the acclaimed Italian vegetarian restaurant Dario's in Koregaon Park, this restaurant specializes in Sicilian food and satisfies the taste buds of all you carnivores out there. Spread across three floors of a building, the restaurant consists of  a rooftop bar, a fine dining restaurant, an exclusive dining area for private parties and a bistro-like outdoor seating area.   

I dined there recently with a group of fellow food bloggers and we had a wonderful time over some great Italian food and wines. We started our evening on the rooftop - the lounge section where they only serve tapas and drinks. We were served an assortment of vegetarian and non vegetarian tapas in platters but what I loved the most was the Tuna Carpaccio which was fresh, healthy and delicious. 

After we were done with the tapas, we moved to the fine dining area (pictured above) where we were served a decadent 5 course meal. We started with the Gamberi Incazzati, a dish with pan seared prawns with white wine, garlic and chilli flakes in a tomato sauce base. If you like a tomato base, you will love this one.

We also had the Carpaccio De Bietola which consisted of liced beetroot with homemade cheese, rucola and caramelized walnuts in a balsamic dressing. This is particularly delicious because the caramelized walnuts add a kick of sweetness along with the crunch.  

We were served two pizzas out of which I had the Caltagirone, a wood-fired pizza with mozarealla, parma ham, rucola and parmesan. I loved the saltiness of the parma ham which was balanced by the two types of cheese. 

Pasta is one of my biggest weaknesses and I make it very often at home but I'm quite bored of eating my own cooking and I have never made Gnocchi, so it was a delicious change for me to try the Gnocchi Con Pancetta which combines home made gnocchi with bacon, basil and sage and cream sauce. This was creamy and delicious and was infused by the delicious flavors of bacon. 

There was a vegetarian variant to all these dishes too but since I'm a hardcore carnivore, I decided to skip reviewing them. However, I was tempted to try the Risotto Al Funghi and it was just so good! This creamy rice dish with mushrooms, wine and cheese was what I would call the perfect comfort food. If you love risotto, you must try this one at Dezio.

Another notable mention from their menu is the La Tagliata - Grilled tenderloin strips served on a bed of rucola topped with parmesan cheese, extra virgin olive oil and a balsamic reduction, served with cherry tomatoes. The tenderloin was really tender (haha) and juicy is definitely worth a try! 

Moving on to desserts, we had an assortment of Lemon tarts, Yogurt Tarts and salted Caramel Chocolate tarts to choose from and all three were delicious though the chocolate tarts emerged as the undisputed winners. 

I was too full to try the Tiramisu, but needless to say, it was fantastic considering that it was wolfed down by the others in no time. 

The cozy outdoor seating area is situated amidst a tranquil and green set up and is open all day. Its perfect for a casual meal with friends while you can watch their chef work away on delicious pizzas at the wood fire oven.

Overall, I had a wonderful dining experice at Dezio and if you love Italian food, do give it a try! All photos are courtesy Megha Chhatbar who I had the pleasure of meeting at the event, and since you can see how awesome they are, I decided to use her photos. You can check out her blog here.

ADDRESS-

Dezio, North Avenue, diagonally opposite ICICI bank

and next to Mars Society, Kalyani nagar 411006, Pune