Little Italy's Le Pizzeria restaurant on Ganeshkhind road

Went with a friend of mine to "Le Pizzeria" restaurant on Ganeshkhind road (next to Pune central). This is their second restaurant in Pune (first one is close to Koregoan park)

The first shock that I received was that these guys were having trouble with their drink licenses. So ended up ordering Indian Sula Merlot wine! (when I was hoping for some Italian wines). I had to be contended with the fact that even Sula wine is actually Chilean. But why can't a good expensive Italian restaurant keep some Chiantis! Anyway for a good wine selection, I will have to head to "Le Dolce Vita" at City point, Dhole Patil road.
The second mistake was they brought the wine in a coke glass! But the waiter explained the problem they were having with their licensing...Later on they replaced the glass with a normal wine glass and I was relieved

Anyway onto food, we ordered an asparagus soup. This was nice

For the main course ordered the classic "Pizza Margherita". This was close to the authentic Italian Pizza. Thin crust, wood oven baked, tomato sauce, mozarella cheese. But the waiter forgot to add fresh basil. which I forced him to bring it out!
I sprinkled fresh basil leaves on the pizza and then it really really tasted good

My lady friend was amazed. She was used to Pizza Huts, Dominoes etc. So to taste the authentic Pizza Margherita was a surprise and it made her realize how good the taste can be with the simplest of ingredients.

We also ordered a nice penne pasta dish(called Barberesca) which had bechamel sauce, pinenuts, asparagus, broccoli. This was also very nice

Lastly ordered 'Tiramisu' for desert which was again close to the authentic Italian version

The bill was about Rs 1500

The first restaurant of this chain is considered one of the best in Pune. But the one on Ganeshkhind road will need to improve. I expect that will happen and then this restaurant can again live upto the reputation it has built up over the years

Time for me to close for the day. But I am not itching to drink a Cabernet Syrah wine that I have at home.

I am totally dissappointed that a good restaurant serving good Italian food does not keep Italian Sangiovese/Nebbiolo wines (Tuscan, Piedmont area wines).