Donna Cucina — Restaurant in Pune

It was our second visit to this place. The first time- a date night in winter. We had LOVED the food to bits. And decided then- that the next time we visit, we should bring more people along, so that we'd be able to taste more stuff! Enter the Khaavengers!😀

Donna Cucina, literally translated as 'A woman's kitchen', is a quaint, cute place at the far end of Lane 1, Koregaon park. It is run by a brother- sister duo with a love for Italian cuisine.

Short review: Definitely worth the drive in the rain and traffic all the way to KP!

Long review: Our interpretation of Italian cuisine is quite flawed. When one says 'pasta', we talk about 'red sauce', 'white sauce', 'pink sauce', 'pesto' and aglio olio. Pizza is synonymous with overflowing cheese! The richer, the heavier on the tummy, the happier we are 🙈 And ultimately end up bloated and uncomfortable with all the cheese and cream.

Donna cucina specialises in artisanal pasta, without the quintessential red/white/pink 'sauces'; also without the cheese overdose. Mind you, the place is pure vegetarian - with also a few vegan options. It is here that you can actually taste the flavours of the seasoning, the umami of the mushrooms that go into your pasta, the freshly ground pepper, the chopped parsley. The beauty lies in the simplicity of the dishes- each of which stands out in its uniqueness. Each ingredient is there for a purpose. Each mouthful is a burst of flavour. There is no overdose of creaminess that overpowers the dish. And at the end, even if you overeat (which we did), you aren't left feeling bloated.

We started off with the Caponata- if someone serves me aubergines in this manner, I'd have them everyday (despite my aversion towards all things brinjal!) Fried aubergines, capers, tomatoes in olive oil, fresh basil, served with a side of toasted sourdough bread (the finest), this was a winner!

We then had the Triangoli di Ricotta Limone. This was a triangular filled pasta (with in-house ricotta and parmigiano) tossed in chilli garlic butter with a hint of lemon, fresh chopped parsley and topped with grated parmesan. So fresh and light! The citrus flavour was a bomb! #stronglyRecommended

Their pizzas are classic Neapolitan hand-rolled pizzas. We tried two. The Margherita was my favourite. Simple, classic, flavourful. The mushroom truffle parmigiano was excellent as well.

We tried the Tagliatelle Ai Funghi Porcini, which had finely sliced Porcini mushrooms tossed in garlic, flavoured with thyme and rosemary, topped with grated parmesan cheese. Again, flying colours! Loved it! We actually asked for spaghetti aglio olio, but our order was mis-heard as fettuccine with sugo finto, which was good as well.

We tried one of their short extruded pastas, casarecce con peperone e aglio. It was basically a pasta tossed with red bell peppers. Between the rest of the pastas, this one was a bit underwhelming in my opinion.

We also tried the potato mint gourmet sourdough sandwich. Fabulous is the word! Whipped creamy potatoes, in a lemon mint dressing, slathered on well - toasted sourdough bread, perfectly balanced with the sweetish tinge of caramelized onions, with a side of iceberg lettuce in a honey- lime vinaigrette dressing, this one hit all the right notes.

Among the desserts, we tried their tiramisu and dark chocolate sorbet (dairy free). The tiramisu was served at a warmer temperature than what we're used to. It was, though flavourful, very light. Not bad, but could've been better. The sorbet was too creamy for a sorbet- was more of a gelato, with non- dairy cream (probably tropolite). The bitterness was well balanced and it wasn't overly sweet, but honestly I'd have preferred some real dairy in it! 😀 To each, his own!

Overall, a brilliant and promising place. Our total bill for all the above dishes was Rs. 4708/- which was very decent for the amount and quality of food we consumed! Definitely recommend Donna Cucina even to the carnivores- I promise you- this is a place where you wouldn't miss...

Occupying a lesser-known lane in Koregaon Park, Donna Cucina is a charming throwback to the pace and restaurant culture (owners cooking in the kitchen and serving the regulars) in this part of Pune city in the earlier days. This little pastificio painstakingly fusses over its handmade pastas and its seasonal fillings that the wonderful young lady, Arshita Singhvi, has mastered over the years. What started as a fresh pasta-delivery service and offerings of pasta-making kits (and culinary classes), is now a restaurant (by brother-sister duo from Jodhpur in Rajasthan, Arshita and Pranay) with casual laid-out tables and prompt, friendly, personalized service.

We ordered Gnudi Di Ricotta (ricotta dumplings, Rs350), super fresh cheese parcels with the divine sprinkling of parmigiano, the sage butter lifting the antipasti. From the pasta (they have filled, long and short), we had Agnolotti Al Pomodoro (Rs500), beautiful pockets filled with roasted and dried tomatoes, the sprinkled toasty panagrotto, rendering an enjoyable crunchy finish to a very unique assemble. The Tagliatelle Ai Funghi Porcini (long pasta, Rs450) was outstanding in a creamy white sauce, that found a convert in a hardcore carnivore accompanying me.

Their drinks are original/delightful too, say, Orange Espresso (Rs200) – pretty good. I enjoy surprises and ordered ‘Surprise of the day.’ I guessed, partially, a hint of berries and fruity flavour – apt with the onset of summer.

The Panna Cotta (Rs300) was a berry-glazed slumbering pillow (of thickened sweet cream) and I suddenly remembered (déjà vu) the one I had (ages ago) at the authentic Italian restaurant, Ciao Bella in Assagao, Goa.

Donna Cucina is there on both Zomato and Swiggy, but go in person I say, to thoroughly enjoy the seemingly simple but arduous Italian delights from this relentless and pasta-passionate CA turned entrepreneur, who makes these from scratch, sources most from her kitchen (ricotta) and fine cheese from Italy.

*All dishes are vegetarian, and alcohol...

Me , my friend and her family came today for lunch and it was by far the worst experience I’ve ever had at a restaurant.

Just going off food quality is not how a restaurant runs. The service was absolutely horrendous , the food presentation looked like food just plopped onto the plate and served for the sake of it. Took 25 mins for a lemonade and more than 40 mins for even pastas to come which also was coming out 1 dish at a time. Almost 2 hours we were there and more than 1.45 mins was just waiting for the food. The wine options we had asked for , 45 mins later the waiter came with options. We had made lunch reservations and as it is an Italian joint , the expectation is that pizza will be served regardless of the time of day but they were out of dough. The server also said that the oven is not working and when discussed with the owners about all this , the only explanation given is - we didn’t expect the rush for the day before on a Monday and we are all sold out of pizzas so you can get them in the evening post 5. He said he will deliver the pizza to the house in the evening and that he will take the address but then didn’t show up when the time for bill had come. If you are running a restaurant you can’t have this as an acceptable answer. By far the worst customer service I’ve experienced and the staff is also half of the time lost or dazed and confused with no front man handling the floor and restaurant operations. I would highly recommend that people don’t go at this establishment until they have sorted or fixed these issues and from what I have heard from sources, they have always had customer and staff service issues but they still fail to rectify it. Disappointment is an understatement and only false promises were made on the...