By Natalie Anderson
natalie.anderson@salisburypost.com

SALISBURY — Beloved local pizza joint Salty Caper expects to reopen in early April after temporarily closing in February to renovate the restaurant.

And “pretty much everything” will be new, according to co-owner Gian Moscardini, except for the tap wall and cabinets. Moscardini said Salty Caper was closed on Feb. 1 to expand the restaurant into the unit next door. The expansion is a result of “10 years of people bugging me to do it,” Moscardini said.

During the closure, the Mooresville location of Salty Caper at 134 Mooresville Commons Way has continued to operate as normal.

The Salisbury restaurant, located at 115 South Lee St., will provide more seating. When he evaluates the look of the new space, Moscardini said, “It’s unbelievable how we did business before in such a small space.”

A new, more efficient pizza oven is part of the new facelift, as well. The new oven is about 7 feet in diameter and cooks pizza faster compared to the original oven from 2005 that was 4.5 feet in diameter. The old oven, Moscardini said, was custom-created with a top from Italy and tile from France. The new unit is pre-designed, but Moscardini assured it would still use wood.

Getting the old oven out and the new one in was a challenge, however. Moscardini said it took three days of jackhammering to destroy the oven, which was a sad day for that Moscardini said made him cry. The new oven required the windows to be removed to get it inside.

But Moscardini saved both the door and a piece of tile from the old oven. He intends to use the keepsakes as decorations in the new space.

He added that Salty Caper is considering adding lunch options to the menu a few months down the road, which would include individual, made-to-order pizzas.

The exact open date for the newly designed restaurant is yet to be determined, but it shouldn’t be any later than early April, Moscardini said.

And on that day, he’s “sure to be swamped.”

Contact reporter Natalie Anderson at 704-797-4246.