PRANZO Italian restaurant has settled into its relatively new home in the former Edinburgh Woollen Mill shop in The Moors shopping centre in Ilkley, after relocating from Ben Rhydding last year, so we thought it a perfect time to visit.

The frontage of the eaterie, with outside tables sheltering under the canopy of the building just off the car park, leads into a large space that is both contemporary in design and brightly lit, yet at the same time intimate, with well-spaced tables, upholstered booths, and a curtained-off private dining area.

Ilkley Gazette: The interior of Pranzo in Ilkley The interior of Pranzo in Ilkley

We were given a warm welcome and took a table in the window, to drink in the April sunshine, overlooked by a grainy black and white photograph of Nonna, industriously at work in her kitchen, and the woman who everyone has to thank for the Pranzo brand.

Chef and founder Marco Greco takes his inspiration from his family's long-running affinity with home cooking, back when Nonna, the family grandmother, produced homemade pasta mixed with ingredients picked from their garden in Calabria, Southern Italy.

The kitchen offers amazing choice, and the main menu was tempting with its enticing lobster ravioli in a cream and parsley sauce (£20.95) and fresh pappardelle with four-hour braised beef shin (£18.50) catching our eye. Starters weigh in from £7.50 to £12.95 (for the pan-fried cod cheeks with samphire).

But in the end we decided to order from the lunchtime menu, which offers two courses for £18.95 and three for £23.95. There are also full vegan and kids' menus available. The lunchtime menu offers a varied choice of three starters and five mains, ranging from pan-fried gnocchi to, for the heartier appetite, a 8oz fillet steak.

Ilkley Gazette: Parma ham and frisee salad with poached pear, sun dried tomatoes, gorgonzola dressing, guanciale crackling Parma ham and frisee salad with poached pear, sun dried tomatoes, gorgonzola dressing, guanciale crackling

I opted for a parma ham and frisée salad with cubes of delicious poached pear, sun dried tomatoes, a zingy gorgonzola dressing and guanicale crackling which really brought out the flavours of the dish.

My partner had the steamed mussels, which came drenched in a thick, creamy and tasty sauce made from Italian cider. garlic and leeks, with toasted focaccia so that every drop of that gorgeous sauce could be mopped up. He pronounced it the best mussel sauce he'd ever had.

Greco designs his dishes with a technician's skill and an artist's eye. They are so beautifully presented it's almost a crime to dive into them. My main course of mafalde with king prawns, mussels, garlic was given just the right lift with a scattering of chilli flakes, and a white wine and tomato sauce that was perfect.

Ilkley Gazette: Mafalde with king prawns, mussels, garlic, chilli flakes, white wine, tomato and pangratto Mafalde with king prawns, mussels, garlic, chilli flakes, white wine, tomato and pangratto

My partner went for the wide, flat paccheri pasta with a meaty Tuscan fennel sausage, mushrooms and a spinach and white wine creamy sauce, all covered with parmesan shavings that he reported was bursting with taste. A glass of Pinot Grigio blush for me and a Birra Moretti for him were the perfect accompaniment from the well-stocked drinks menu.

I couldn't manage a dessert, though I was sorely tempted by the rhubarb frangipani, but my partner went for a vanilla ice cream that came with a shot glass of hot espresso to be poured over.

In the photo above us, Nonna worked industriously on her own pasta in her Italian kitchen. Several generations later, Marco Greco has definitely done her proud with the growing Pranzo brand.