“Simple pleasures indeed” – Il Pirata Pizzata, Saltaire, reviewed

While we were all eating sourdough and crunching banana bread, Simon Towers was spending his confinement far more productively.

Every day, he would fire up his Ooni pizza oven – a 30th birthday gift he received just before all of The Stuff happened – and set to work on his lovingly tended dough sheets.

We are talking about long preliminaries and hand-stretching. Pizza boffins heartily approve.

In addition to keeping the residents of Towers HQ on a steady supply of pizza, these meditative windows of testing, tinkering, and improving helped bring some semblance of sanity to those very strange times. Making and eating pizza is definitely a lot more fun than a Joe Wicks workout.

The wise landlord of the local pub was attentive. Following Towers’ progress on Instagram, he mused that regulars might enjoy a Neapolitan pie with a few cold beers. The invitation to launch the popup was sent and duly accepted. The name would be Il Pirata Pizzata, which loosely translates to Pirate Pizza Party.

Word limit regulations force me to move this story forward about a year. But guess what? Turns out Towers was pretty good at this pizza malarkey. The pop-ups were a success and since then the brick and mortar incarnation of Il Pirata Pizzata has landed in Saltaire.

Dreams can come true, as Gabrielle memorably recalled.

Follow your nose to the unit off the main road to the inviting aroma of toast and yeast and fine Italian cheese. Thanks later.

We start with a Margherita (£10) because we’re hip and Real. Its darkened skin blooms and bubbles, speaking of a dough that has been pressed hard and then laid down for a long year of slumber, which sounds tempting. Its thin tomato sauce is lively and there’s plenty of melty mozzarella. Simple pleasures indeed.

The menu mentions something called Petra flour and name-checks the famous mill where it comes from. We are talking about long preliminaries and hand-stretching. Pizza boffins heartily approve.

I’m not stupid, but I was a ninja around the Pizza Hut salad bar, and I know purists can get nervous when pizza lovers start getting excited and creative with toppings. Here, the options are distorting rather than silly.

As well as the thinly sliced ​​chilli-flecked pork parts you’d normally expect scattered here and there, this Diavola (£13) is stuffed in a few new ways. Candied jalapenos bring a welcome honey sweetness to the robust and fiery salsiccia.

When I ask what the rust-colored hair-like strands are, our waiter – in an act of warm hospitality – retrieves a package, announces that they are dried red chilies, and asks if I’d like more chumps. It’s the little things, right?

It’s itchy outside, but Marco (£13) brings back a distant memory of fresh spring sunshine. Lemon zest and prosciutto are mixed with a pistachio base, and more crushed nuts are sprinkled on top. Showery, salty and crunchy, it’s as fresh and lively as the cheerful interior, where everything is pastel pinks, soft yellows and bold geometric wall prints.

The space is compact, but it doesn’t feel like it. The plan is to offer more seats upstairs in the future. I’m a big fan of neon swamp.

Liquor is a fresh addition to the range and glasses of juicy Montepulciano or cool Trebbiano (both £4.50) are both healthy and safe pizza accompaniments. The La Bassa Pilsner (£5) cleans the palate nicely.

The menu is pure pizza for now. Sure, it would be nice to put a bowl of bitter lettuce on the side or finish off a scoop or two of gelato, but this is early days and Towers is gallantly juggling a day job at this place. You can’t blame him for taking things one step at a time.

Those shutdowns may be a thing of the past now, but stick with the news and on various fronts, things still look a little bleak. I’m not saying pizza can change the world, but a visit to Il Pirata Pizzata makes things seem a lot less bleak.

Pizza Pirate 91 Bingley Road, Saltaire, BD18 4SB

Follow Richard on Twitter @eat the north