Greer's OC

Swirled slices of avocado on pizza, woodfired vegetables and salads, housemade pasta, and vegan desserts served at a charming waterfront eatery. That’s Skål Pizza at Lido Marina Village in Newport Beach, a new sister restaurant of Malibu Farm.

Helene and John Henderson, a married couple and co-owners, developed the Skål Pizza concept at their Malibu Farm Miami location, utilizing a pizza oven. They were hoping to bring pizzas to all Malibu Farm locations (Newport Beach, Malibu, San Diego and Tiburon) but installing pizza ovens proved to be too tricky, so Skål Pizza was born, a new vegetable-forward concept and separate location, a few doors down from Malibu Farm Lido. 

Swedish-born Helene, co-created Skål to focus on vegetable-forward pizzas: avocado, tomato, artichoke, cruciferous (cauliflower brussels sprouts), BBQ corn, and vegan butternut squash. But she insists that you are welcome to top any pizza with Skål’s meat options: burrata, smoked turkey breast, salami, salami prosciutto, pancetta, ‘nduja Spanish chorizo, or a fried egg. 

She’s also a big fan of colorful and flavorful pastas. “I am obsessed with colors so obviously we have one that is beet because red pasta rules—it’s delicious,” Helene said. “We have one that is saffron and yellow like sunshine with a miso lemon sauce, and then obviously we need a green pasta with spinach and pesto. We also have vegan zoodles, with tomato sauce.” A few favorites include the brown butter beet with housemade capellini pasta, candied pecans, chives, and brown butter beet sauce; and saffron miso with housemade tagliatelle pasta, pecorino romano, and black pepper. 

Salads are equally satisfying and delicious at Skål. “We wanted to pay as much attention to our salads as our pizzas, so we offer lots of fun salad options, sunflower ratatouille, charred ranch, seasonal fruit, and our Caesar salad with a fun twist,” Helene said. “We added wood-fired vegetables which are amazing, carrots, zucchini, and artichoke.”  The musts include the baby beet Greek with baby beets, cucumber, tomatoes, green and kalamata olives, pickled onions, marinated feta, and mustard vinaigrette; and the mushroom & fennel with arugula and fennel thinly sliced white button mushrooms, shaved parmesan, saffron salt, and citrus dressing

And almost all desserts are vegan: budinos, sorbets, and wood-firewood bananas, pears or grapes with coconut cream and vegan caramel sauce. Helene loves a touch of salt on desserts so look out for a sprinkle of house salts. “We put a touch of pinot noir salt on our pinot noir poached pears with caramel sauce,” Helen said.

When asked about the future of Skål, Helene said, “We will hope for the best (skål aka cheers) and that we will have the opportunity to serve our vegetable-forward pizzas for years to come.”

No doubt, judging by how special the ambiance is and how delicious the menu offerings are, Skål will always be a go-to favorite for locals and visitors alike.

Open 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday, Sunday, and Monday; 12 p.m. to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday; closed Tuesday & Wednesday.

3400 Via Oporto, Suite 104 in Newport Beach. 949.239.6290.