Canteen Pizza, the sister venue of Cottesloe favourite, Il Lido, gets better with age. On opening the sparse fit-out gave it an already lived in feeling; primed to be a neighbourhood lynchpin. A few years on: its just that and ably vieing with its sibling.

Family friendly and loud, we find tables of mid-teens and parents tearing into the menu on one visit; trendy Cott seniors on another, and more millennials than you can shake a bottle of natty wine at.

Pizza is obviously the main event and while we’ve been through many of them, the marinara is still the go to: thin sourdough crust, its edges puffed up, with just enough char from the wood-fired oven and the simplicity of San Marzano tomatoes, garlic and oregano. Added anchovy? You bet.

But it’s the other parts of the menu – the antipasti, side plates and porchetta  – that bring us back. Perhaps it’s heresy to suggest but pizza could easily take second billing.

Firm Kingfish is a coastal plate perfect for the view to the ocean horizon, dressed with well-balanced acidity, peppery rocket, marinated capsicum and pistachio. It’s simple but well executed; everything you’d want and expect. The light touch is a winner.

Again trading on simplicity, thick, salty, grilled croutons soak up the juices and oil of bright basil pesto, acidic tomatoes and good buffalo mozzarella. Fat asparagus spears grilled, sprinkled with bottarga and served with anchovy aioli are enjoyed at a languid pace.

Porchetta cooked in the wood-fired oven is thickly carved, the meat moist and the crackling charred and brittle. Roasted garlic oozes under the smallest of pressure, its flavour permeating the pork. The menu tells us that the porchetta is available until sold out, which you’d assume it does. More reason to get in early, and linger on the menu and the strong natural and low intervention wine list.

Tiramisu is always a temptation; as is an Italian cheese selection. But it’s all a bit too much. Dessert could be thwarted by earlier courses, if it were not for the three-dollar cannoli. Piped with fresh, zesty buffalo ricotta, a light dusting of icing sugar, it’s another win for simplicity.