UNLESS you have been secluded away in a Pompeii monastery, you have probably noticed the unstoppable rise of artisan pizza.

Like many trendy things its popularity makes a lot of sense in retrospect, given the near universal appreciation of the Southern Italian speciality - but it’s no less a stroke of genius.

Franco Manca has probably done more than most to bring clay-fired sourdough pizza to the UK since it launched in Brixton Market in 2008, shaking up a market whose previous best reference points were still stuck at Pizza Express.

Even Luke Johnson, the new Palace Pier owner and former Pizza Express owner who famously extolled the great profit margins of the carb-loaded product, would surely not begrudge the success of this new wave.

Having popularised real Neapolitan pizza in London, Franco Manca set its sights on Brighton - though not before a pair of independents made their mark on the city over the last two years.

Fatto a Mano has created a great neighbourhood joint on London Road, while Nuposto has brought a bit of class to West Street.

Before that we had the likes of Very Italian Pizza, Pizza Face and Pizza 500 - though venture elsewhere and you were risking stodgy bases and bland tin-can toppings.

But while Franco, Fatto and Nuposto have exponentially upped the pizza game with their hulking clay ovens, which turn pizza dough into scorched pillows in seconds, not everyone has this luxury.

Yet you wouldn’t say it particularly detracts from Pronto in Tavola, a hidden gem on Waterloo Street on the edge of BN3.

Run pretty much singlehandedly by charismatic Southern Italian chef Nino, who juggles multiple takeaway orders with walk-ins, it’s a small casual restaurant with appealing splashes of tri-colour.

The Gourmand has been coming here for years and it easily stands up to the incomers for pure personality and quality. And though most of its output is takeaway, it is always preferable to eat pizza straight from the oven.

By far its most popular choice is the granducato, which accounts for one in every three pizza orders that go out of the door. It combines a pungent hit of fennel sausage, garlic and chilli. More big flavour come from scattered wild porcini mushrooms, and it’s finished off with cooling marscepone, for a topping of near perfection.

There’s nothing wrong with the base either. Nino might well like a clay oven and a brigade of cooks, though he’d never fit either in his small kitchen and he happily gets by with distinction in any case.

We also try a beautifully understated porchetta pizza, its wafer thin slices of cured, rolled pork belly virtually melting into the mozzarella and ricotta topping.

The menu has the classics like the margarita, Napoletano and Siciliana alongside the spicy Italian calabrese, the gorgonzola and walnut topped saporita and the pancetta and garlic toscana - plus unlisted specials concocted from in-stock produce.

What also sets Pronto in Tavola apart is its pasta. With so many crimes against durum being committed all over the city, the bar is rather low. And lasagne is so exposed and abused The Gourmand might have glanced over it had he not learned it was fresh from the oven.

The advice was sound, the dish served tall in a terracotta dish with with off-piste additions of cavelo nero, peas and basil giving triple-pronged hit of roughage, delicacy and fragrance. The pasta sheets are light and ripple round the dish like a Jacobian ruff, while the ragu is light on meat but deep on flavour. Over all it’s a homely effort poached from Nino’s mother’s repertoire and a delight to eat - so much better than the the mono-textural over-sauced stuff we have become sadly used to.

As well as lasagne there is also a few gnocchi and penne dishes – as well as salads and cured meats, such as a carpaccio of bresaola cured beef, rocket and parmesan; and a caprese of mozzarella, tomato and basil with a marvellous olive oil.

We finish with a lovely cannolo, fried tube shells of pastry dough filled with a lemon scented sweet ricotta cream.

He also has some young reds from the South such as the Aglianico which is a robust match for his rustic familial fare.

It is hard to put it any better then the website, which points out Pronto in Tavola is not trying to do something new, it is trying to do something right. Complimenti to that.