Pizza West, Whitby

We know, pizza restaurants are ten a penny, but this one’s different. First it’s in a superb location, on Whitby’s West Cliff.  If you get the right table, there’s a glimpse of the sea. Chloe and David Ellis who also have the Waterside at Chainbridge, opened here a few years ago and have transformed it with great style.

The white, one-storey building has been given some cool black Crittall windows and an interior dominated by a huge wood-fired pizza oven. Among the tables sits a contemporary wood burner and some pretty basket-work lampshades.

The chefs work from an island (customers can opt to sit at the counter) loaded with bowls of lemons, peppers, chillis and jugs of herbs. It all looks colourful and generous.

There are a dozen pizzas, many with familiar toppings though with a step up in the quality of ingredients like the San Marzano tomatoes and basil; mushroom and ham; pepperoni with a whole burrata and more unusual ones too: chicken shwarma with pomegranate, mint yoghurt and tomatoes; nduja, capers and sun dried tomatoes.

They offer three pasta dishes and a dozen appetisers of which the wood fired lamb chops with rosemary, garlic and tzatziki is a standout dish. Tuscan meatballs, prawns pil pil, rigatoni with brown butter, walnuts and broccoli are listed and an alternative for anyone not wanting pizza.

Crowd-pleasing desserts; tiramisu, ice cream sundae, affogato, are a fitting end to the joyful Pizza West.