With so many places to eat in Reading that seem so similar, my mind often turns back to my business training and terms like 'differentiation' and 'USP'. It's not an easy thing to do in the restaurnat business where service and quality trump finding a market niche.

Indeed, most eateries these days aim to please everyone, hence burgers, steaks and pizzas at Carluccio's. The move is toward homogeneity not differentiation. There is no place for niche markets when you can be feeding the world !

And this is where indies have an opportunity. Some of our most popular local restaurants exist by being on a barge or offering only gluten free food. I mention this because of Zi Tore, which is certainly trying to appeal to a certain clientele. 

It was high time to wander back to Smelly Alley - or the somewhat more fragrantly named Union Street - and its only eatery.

Once upon a time, not so long ago, this is where you came to buy your  fish, meat and vegetables, but now it is a sea of vape and mobile phone accessory shops with a couple of outliers, Eclectic Games is an utterly wonderful store where you can get your hands on hundreds if not thousands of board and card games and the owners are friendly and highly  knowledgeable. They seem to have played every game they sell. It is truly one of Reading's gems. But they are soon moving, as I understand.

So fourteen mobile phone stores will likely become fifteen. Since only a couple of these appear on Google and all are absolutely empty on a Friday afternoon, it tells you that something very strange is going on. And all those barbers ? The vacuum created by Amazon in our high streets is being filled by some questionable enterprises, if you ask me, with apologies to all those genuine indie businesses trying to make a go for it out there. Along with USP I laso learnt about supply and demand, and something doesn't add up on Smelly Alley.

But resisting the temptation to buy a rainbow cover that my phone doesn't need, I strode a familiar path to the unit that used to house the much lamented Grumpy Goat, to find Zi Tore.

The location is sort of apt - it is the kind of eatery that you will find in the backstreets of Naples.

It has a short menu of pizza, pasta and desserts. All the usuals are here from Margherita to lasagne and tiramisu.

The philosophy and approach is simple - do a little and do it well. Six pizzas, three street food dishes and three pasta dishes, ravioli and gnocchi with a choice of three sauces - mushroom, ragu and tomato, and lasagne. Plus coffee and cake.

And then there is the next quirk - they don't serve alcohol, which is a rarity in Reading these days even in Muslim run establishments. Apparently a lot of their clientele don't drink alcohol and pop in for coffee and cake. Which is both fair enough and a sign of the times. But being us, my mate G got talking to the owner Paolo whilst I popped over to Sainsbury's for a cheeky Shiraz (all the Italian wines had corks).

Paolo happily served a couple of glasses and offered a corkscrew (darn) and did not mention corkage. I suggested that charging a corkage of a fiver might be a win-win. Everything about Zi Tore is personal and laid back, as the best service should be.

Everything is made fresh on the premises, and with just the two of us in, our meal took around twenty five minutes to arrive, giving us plenty of time to catch up on G's son's wedding on a clifftop in Devon pictures and stories and my latest vibecoding ventures.

I had the house pizza, which was basically a Margherita with a couple of slices of pepperoni and some diced aubergine.

The crust tasted great, bubbly and chewy in a very good way, but the base was too thin and soggy for my liking. I ended up eating it with a knife and fork and it was a 50:50 crust to topping ratio, so a lot of delicious bread and not enough topping (I may never be able to visit Naples again). 

Of course, we over-ordered and in the middle of the table we placed a gnocchi with mushroom sauce, which was lovely and creamy and unctuous and shredded with cheese, but the gnocchi were thick and hard and tasted very little of potato and egg and a lot of flour. They need a lighter touch. To be honest, I have always hated these tasteless lumps of carbs and this wasn't going to change my mind .

The most extraordinary dish was the pizza fritta, which neither G nor I had realised was a thing. Imagine a cross between a doughnut and a calzone. In fact, I remember when the cronut became a fad, and this was not a million miles away from that hybrid child of a croissant and a donut. Essentially, it was a massive chunk of deep fried dough with gooey tomato, cheese and pepperoni inside. G loved it. I enjoyed a couple of mouthfuls but was reticent thereafter. It was all a bit heavy and a bit, well, samey.

Needless to say, we had no room left for dessert, so make your own minds up on this by popping in for a coffee and a slice.

This is great freshly made, delicious food and makes for a great pit stop for a morning coffee, lunch or afternoon cake. Not serving alcohol is a refreshing approach to the current dining out market.

Zi Tore deserves your support, but it is not for me. Coffee and cake is something I like to consume in scenery (in the summer at least), watching the world go by, and the food was just too heavy and stodgy for my taste. However, I think that there is a massive customer base in Reading for this lovely little cafe and if no alcohol and comfort food is your thing, you will love this place. They have found their niche down on Smelly Alley. Let's hope some more niche restaurants and take away's gives this street back its name in place of all those mobile repair shops.