Former Wigan RL star expands hospitality empire with a pizza house

Lee Mossop, 33, opened The Upper Crust Pizzeria and Bar, next door to The Old Bank coffee and wine bar on Church Street in Orrell, in November.

Since its opening, ex-Salford Red Devils captain Lee has been pleased with how successful it has been.

Lee, who also owns The Old Bank coffee and wine bar in Pemberton, said: “We had a lot of people asking could they hire the shop for christenings but because they are at weekends, we could never accommodate them.

"We purchased the unit next door so we could knock through and use it for this reason.

"All of a sudden, we decided to make it into a pizzeria and, touch wood, it’s going really well.

"Everyone seems to be enjoying it.”

The pizzeria offers authentic Neapolitan-style pizza made with the finest Italian ingredients.

Turning the unit into a pizzeria was also a very last minute decision.

Lee added: “The chefs we got in are Italian pizza chefs so they are incredibly passionate about making brilliant pizzas.

"Our pizza oven was also imported from Italy, we want it to be as authentic as possible.

"I honestly have no idea what made us turn it into a pizzeria.

“It was a spur of a moment talk with my wife were I mentioned it and it developed from there.

"Living in Orrell, we always try and add to the area and we felt this is something the place was lacking.”

The restaurant is open from 3.30pm Wednesday to Sunday.

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