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In Bolton, a new pizza palace is set to open, offering residents an inexpensive taste of the authentic Italian delicacy.
In March, Bilal Mahmood and his Bolton business partner Faiyaz Patel plan to open FiredUp, a Halal Neapolitan pizza restaurant, in the old Victory pub building.
The friends have already honed their pizza-making skills with the help of renowned Italian pizza chef Davide Auria, and have collaborated with him to develop the menu, with the majority of the ingredients sourced from Italy.
Bilal said: “It was a lockdown thing really, I’m a construction worker usually but with Covid, I ended up sitting at home.
“I’ve always been a foodie and love going out to try new places to eat, but since we couldn’t do that, we relied on deliveries and my go-to is always pizza.
“To be honest, in Bolton you can’t find a good place for authentic Italian pizza that’s also halal. You just have to stick to cheese and tomatoes.”
Bilal had always wanted to work in the restaurant industry and had considered opening a burger and fries joint until the pizza idea came to him.
While training with Davide Auria, the two were able to secure his services as a staff trainer.
One unique feature of the new restaurant will be the opportunity to watch chefs prepare selected pizzas.
Bilal said: “It’s almost like a Subway because we will have the topping there in front of them, they can choose, and we will make the dough, stretch it, and make the pizza, all in front of the customers.
“The oven is from Italy and it rotates, so it’s the best one to use.
“It had to be in Bolton because I was born and bred here, and we want to bring halal Neapolitan pizza to Bolton finally.”
FiredUp will sell more than just pizza; Bilal also decides to offer milkshakes and desserts.
Bilal already had his desserts under lock and key thanks to his Instagram account @BombayShakes.
It was successful while he was away from his construction job, but he left after three months to concentrate on the new venture and returned to work.
He added: “It did well but it was just an experiment to see if people would like my milkshakes, that I was making from my mum’s kitchen.”
The restaurant will open on Chorley Old Road in the old Victory Pub.
