A
B
D
H
K
L
M
N
P
R
S
There are few standalone Italian restaurants in the city. Among them is Piccante. Housed in Hyatt Regency, Chandigarh, this Italian fine-diner is steered by Italian chef Gianfranco. He can often be seen rustling up the specials in the open kitchen, sporting his signature beret. The restaurant has charming wooden interiors and here again, like the rest of the hotel, there is an ode to Le Corbusier’s style of architecture. We loved the fact that you can see all the action happening in the kitchen including the chef at work. During the day, there is a view of the outdoors as well and they do have an outdoor seating area as well. The menu packs in quintessential Italian dishes across antipasti, zuppe, pasta, risotto, seafood and poultry selections et al. To make it easy for first-timers to order, look for the chef’s specials denoted by a chef’s hat in the menu. We went for the 'Quail Eggs along with Penne Piccante'. The eggs were surprisingly a small portion and did not come with any sides. So make sure you order 'Garlic Bread' well in advance as it took a while to arrive when we ordered it midway. The pasta had a good hit of paprika and the sauce was home-style. Indecisive over gnocchi and chicken dish, we opted for 'Risotto' and 'Chicken Breast'. The latter was well done and filling. In fact, the portion was good too. An Italian meal out would be simply incomplete without having tried the 'Tiramisu'. The flavour was good but it the overdose of mascarpone cheese and a soggy bottom was putting off. It was runny by the time we ended our meal. Perhaps we would try another dessert the next time round.