Some of the best pizza in Greater Manchester is being made in a backyard by a former plasterer
06.01.2024 - 09:37
/ manchestereveningnews.co.uk
As you walk up the narrow cobbled alleyway that runs behind a row terraces, you wouldn't think you're yards away from one of Greater Manchester's top-rated takeaways.
The first clue is the sight of the huge stone pizza oven over a wall. Beyond a creaky wooden gate is the small backyard where incredible grub is being knocked up.
For the past year or so, Italian food fanatic Mark Fellows has been rustling up traditional Neapolitan pizzas. He's taken Stockport by storm.
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Every weekend the alleyway behind Mark's home in Edgeley sees queues of people waiting to get their hands on his food. Mark handmakes his pizzas from scratch using ingredients imported from northern Italy. He's earned a perfect five-star rating on Just Eat.
Mark, 51, was a plasterer by trade until around four-years-ago. He'd been doing that job since leaving school. In his spare time, he loved making pizza.
"I've always loved making pizza," he said. "My mum made pizza and I used to love watching her do it in our kitchen." Before the pandemic, Mark decided he wanted a change and made his hobby into a vocation, founding NAPOLeZZA.
"My knees were going, my elbows were going, my back was going," he added. "I was approaching my 50s, so more as a retirement plan I decided to go into business doing pizza.
"I started off doing pop-ups - Foodie Friday, outside pubs, campsites, weddings, parties... that sort of thing. People were loving it and asking when they could get another one.
"Half the time I didn't know when I was going to be back myself. I decided to set up here, more for repeat custom.
"It also meant I didn't have to fork out in pitch fees, which can run to a few