Afternoon drink under the trees

When I pass I am always thankful that I am not walking and can at least close the windows and drive past as quickly as possible. This has been an ongoing problem for years and, of course, worse after a heavy rainy season. Currently, there are huge earthworks along the pipe-line (which I presume must be damaged and leaking), but no sign of actual repair or any abatement in the smell.
Picobello has the misfortune of being situated almost opposite this ongoing health hazard, but luckily the restaurant is perched on the top of a rise and the air is immediately sweeter as you turn into the spacious property.  Mature trees provide shade to brick-paved parking and at night strings of fairy lights strung in the trees offer a pretty welcome.
Picobello calls itself a pizzeria and certainly the pizzas are very good, though the fashion for overcrowding a pizza with all sorts of toppings is not so much to my taste.  Otherwise, the identity of the restaurant is not that clear and other dishes on the menu are by no means specifically Italian except for a few pasta dishes (US$10 to US$12)
The inside dining area felt very bright so we chose a table outside on the verandah — tented walls and plastic windows sheltering us from what was suddenly a cold and breezy evening.  Being hungry, we arrived early and were almost the first people there.
We had brought our own wine — which was swiftly opened by waiter, Lizwe — and service was prompt.
The starters don’t give much hint of nationality and range from crumbed mushrooms, through the seemingly ubiquitous fried cheese (don’t know what kind), and an intriguing vegetarian kirsch to prawn cocktail and seafood risotto (US$7.) A concession to Italian was bruschetta with various toppings.
Chips (US$3) — also feature rather strangely as a starter. My husband opted for the chicken livers wrapped in bacon (US$6) and I chose mushroom soup (US$5) to warm myself up. Nice enough and it did feature real mushrooms but didn’t appear made totally from scratch. 
The chicken livers were sizzling and tasty and were accompanied with good garlic and chillies.
A past occasion had me disappointed by Picobellos’ calamari — rubbery and overcooked and having recently enjoyed a delicious fresh calamari in a Jo’burg Italian place, I didn’t want to risk it. The Serbian special of cevapcici (US$10) was tempting and maybe there is a Serbian hand in the kitchen? Other mains are bream, calamari, salmon, schnitzel, chicken and beef (US$12 to US$15) 
Nothing really grabbed our attention so we played it safe and went for pizza — choosing the con pesto (US$16 for a large pizza) which promised pesto, mozzarella, artichokes, olives and red peppers. It sounded good, but the flavours weren’t as punchy as promised.  There was no sign of an artichoke and the peppers were green instead of sweet red. It didn’t compare to the tasty pesto anointing my burger at Antonio’s in Borrowdale and there was no more than a hint of basil. The pizza crust is lovely though — crispy and thin.
We ordered a fresh tomato and onion salad (US$4) – which was nice, though green onions a bit overdone.  Olive oil and balsamic was brought to the table for dressing.
It was a cosy evening and also offers a peaceful place for a quiet afternoon drink under the trees. Dinner for two — two starters, shared pizza, corkage and water came to US$37.