SARAH HYDE and family headed to Pickering for pizza and pasta.

WHAT do you do on the last day of half-term when it is cold and damp and the prospect of packing lunchboxes, ironing school uniforms and a return to fraught mornings is casting a pall over the day?

Head out for lunch, that's what, and with daughters whose food preferences would indicate an Italian heritage rather than their Anglo-Irish roots, Pickering's newest pizza place seemed like a good place to try.

Tutti, in Market Place, is keen to trumpet its 'family-friendly' credentials and has just launched a jolly children's pack to keep the bambinis busy while the adults go through the business of perusing and choosing.

We were a couple of weeks too early to sample it, but the main menu already features a small children's selection, with a note urging young diners to stretch their tastebuds by choosing from the main menu, with portions reduced.

A cheerily-efficient waiter greeted us and showed us to a table - there was plenty of choice as only one other table was occupied.

The décor is a stylish take on a modern Italian restaurant, all pale wood, stone floor and marble tables, with framed black and white photos offering a glimpse of Italian life in some glamorous, far-off time. It is airy, sleek and sophisticated. (The loos are equally sleek, and they do that thing where you can learn snatches of Italian while you sit?) The four of us ordered drinks - Limonatas and red wine - and buried our heads in the extensive menu.

Keen cook Clementine, nine, is a huge fan of venues which offer children chance to create their own pizzas, and was delighted to discover she will no longer have to drag us to Leeds or Newcastle for that particular treat.

She duly ordered a You're the Chef pizza with her choice of toppings (£4.95) and I was just as excited as her when it arrived: the base ready in its pan, and a tray full of white espresso cups filled to the brim with tomato sauce, mozzarella, ham, mushrooms and sweetcorn.

While she got busy, we made short work of dough balls with garlic butter - deemed the lightest, fluffiest doughballs ever - and a plate of olives, rustic bread and oil. The olives were delicious, but would have been even better if they had been served with the drinks as a complimentary 'treat' as happens elsewhere.

Vegetarian Maddie, 12, chose ravioli al funghi (£4.95) which arrived as a mound of melting pasta parcels containing savoury musroom filling, all in a bubbling cheese sauce, with salad on the side. Pizza is, for me, the test of an Italian restaurant, and my pancetta pizza with field mushrooms (£7.25) passed with flying colours. The base was substantial enough to have that distinctive doughy flavour, but avoided the stodge factor. And there was enough topping to keep me eating to the crust.

Al had the penne carbonara (7.95)- which I always want but can't eat for thinking of the calories - and his 'mmming' soon had me scooping up a forkful. Mmm, indeed.

Creamy, but with enough savoury notes to stop it falling into the bland category, and without the gloopiness that screams thickening agents at you.

Puddings are made by the kitchen at the White Swan next door - Tutti is part of the same business - and there are just seven choices, of which one is ice cream and two are sweet pizzas which didn't appeal to us.

Maddie was a mite disappointed there was no cheesecake, but enjoyed her chocolate fudge brownie with ice cream (£4.25). It came in a piping hot dish, which unfortunately left most of the fudge sauce baked onto the bottom. Clementine had the ice cream (£3.75) and it was really tasted as you imagine ice cream should, but rarely does.

The strawberry flavour was light and superfruity. I had ice cream too, in the form of affogato al caffe (£3.95) - vanilla ice cream with a shot of espresso poured over it. It was the perfect end to the meal, a touch of creamy sweetness with the lingering flavour of rich coffee.

Service was prompt but relaxed and friendly and we were only sad that we didn't see Tutti buzzing as it deserves to. But as we left, the weather was doing its best to continue the Mediterranean theme with a bit of sunshine, so we walked off lunch with a potter round the flea market, coming out with some pretty beaded pineapple-shaped tealight holders, a walk up to the castle and a visit to the parish church to marvel again at the medieval frescoes.

But a return trip, in the evening, is on the cards.

Sarah Hyde visited Tutti on Sunday, February 18.