Paletta Pizzeria
82 High Street, Barry. 01446 311964 / facebook.com/palettapizzeria
Food **** Atmosphere ****
Paletta Pizzeria recently swung its doors open after months of renovation, founder Rhys Cafaro having toiled away alongside his father with the building work. Rhys’ partner Sarah is running the business with him, with the aim of bringing a good quality family-run restaurant back to Barry High Street after the demise of pizza spot Carlos. The end result of all this hard work is a success.
The décor is rustic: slatted benches made from scaffolding planks, pizza paddles across one wall and olive tins with succulents popping out, all assisting to create a cheerful Mediterranean atmosphere. There’s real emphasis on Paletta being a family-run establishment, too: mum, dad and son were all in attendance on the night we went.
With a concise, easy to navigate menu, plenty for vegetarians and vegans to be happy about and all food prepared on site and cooked in their own oven, pizzas are hand-stretched, wood-fired and stone-baked to order. As stated on the menu, food arrives when it’s done. A couple of Moretti beers and servings of Nocellara olives to start are followed by margherita pizzas topped with mushrooms, olives, peppers, and La Vegana – a vegan pizza with aubergines, courgettes, garlic and cherry tomatoes. Fries, verdura – kale cooked in garlic, white wine and chilli – and yet more Moretti followed.
There’s a selection of salads and pasta dishes and an interesting range of pizzas and toppings. Wine is straight to the point: house red, white or rosé. Desserts are specials on the day – on this occasion, a cheesecake with popcorn, which was duly ordered out of intrigue. The cheesecake was nice and crumbly, albeit too sweet for my taste, and the popcorn added little to the dish; if anything it was probably best without it.
Overall, the meal, the venue, the clearly over the moon family and the staff have created a great little restaurant. One which, judging by the busy evenings that have followed since Paletta Pizzeria’s opening and social media feedback, is doing something right. ANTONIA LEVAY