Tesoro pizzeria opens in Bolton to rave customer reviews

They have just opened Tesoro, a pizzeria in Heaton that is truly exceptional.

After rave reviews for the home-made pizzas they sold at their pub, The Finishers Arms, the enterprising duo have bravely taken the next step with the new venture.

“We’re from a food background, in fact we grew up in the family delicatessen, Darleys, in Over Hulton,” explained Joe.

“It was always our dream to have our own purpose-built restaurant and we’re absolutely delighted that it’s become a reality.”

Those whose tastebuds have been deadened by the attempts at the Italian classic are in for a real treat if they visit the New Hall Lane premises.

Joe was trained by Italian-born Marco Fuso, who can count the 2017 Best Pizza Maker in Britain as one of his many awards.

“Last year, when we were making pizzas for the pub, we were finalists in the Best Pizza category of the Italian Awards. Now we’ve got the restaurant up and running, we’re hoping to do even better this year.

“A lot of places have pizza and pasta on the menu, but we’re a genuine pizzeria and we concentrate all our focus on making pizzas. We offer antipasti, but it’s pizzas we specialise in, that’s how we’ve earned our reputation.”

The menu features four classic pizzas, but is outnumbered by Tesoro’s original pizzas which change according to the season.

“With our pizzas, we want to give people a wider choice and a proper taste of Italy. We don’t want to limit it otherwise people just tend to order exactly the same type of pizza every time they visit.

“We’ve named our pizzas after different Italian regions. Each region is known for a particular food speciality, and that is reflected in the ingredients we use. For instance, our Amalfi pizza includes tuna and anchovies, our Campania pizza contains nduja and hot honey, and our Sicily pizza includes almonds, prosciutto and apricot jam.”

They import their meat, flour, tomatoes and cheese from Italy, but get their milk, butter and eggs from Smithills Farm. The Gift of Oil, a Bolton company that has its own farm in Italy, supplies the olive oil.

Such careful consideration extends to the wine list, which features wines that are appropriate to the region, as well as to the dish itself.

“Our wine supplier supplies Michelin-starred restaurants and we had to do a detailed presentation explaining our ethos and vision, in order to become their client.”

Joe’s decision to install a verre di vin unit, will endear him to wine lovers and the wine-curious alike.

“It’s a relatively new thing in the wine sector. Basically, it means opened bottles of wine can be resealed and remain fresh for 21 days.”

The gains from a commercial perspective are matched by those afforded to customers.

“Usually, people have to buy wine from the bottle, but the verre di vin allows us to sell all our wine by the glass and carafe. Customers, therefore, don’t have to invest in the whole bottle to taste an expensive wine, and they can try a range of wines with their meal.”

This customer-centric approach and focus on quality extends to the wine itself, which is made from 100 per cent Italian grapes.

Along with the verre di vin, Joe has also installed a hand-made, three-tonne pizza oven, which he shipped over from Italy.

The enterprising cousins also own Provisions, a delicatessen next-door-but-one to Tesoro, where customers can buy ingredients used in the pizza restaurant to make their own versions.

“Looking to the future, we’re thinking of offering live music, as we’ve got a license,” said Joe. “We’re also thinking of running pizza cooking schools when we’re closed on Mondays.”

“Tesoro” is an Italian term of endearment meaning ‘treasure’.

It’s how Joe and Peter feel about their business and their customers, and, considering the pizzeria is generating a much-needed buzz and injecting new life into the area, it’s how Bolton should regard Tesoro.

Tesoro is open 2pm to 10pm Tues – Thurs, 12pm – 10pm Fri and Sat, and 12 pm – 5pm on Sundays.

Customers getting a 'pizza' of the action

Many eateries are packed with customers on a sunny Friday or Saturday night, but attracting custom at 3pm on a dull and cold weekday afternoon in a Bolton suburb could be challenging to say the least.

Not so at Tesoro, where groups of diners were tucking into their pizzas, and general manager, Lauren, was busy taking bookings for later.

“We love the pizzas that they used to do in the pub, so we knew we’d get quality food here,” said Charlotte Howarth, who was dining with husband, Rob, and children River and Payton.

“It’s important that there are places like this because it helps bring people in the community together.”

Rob said: “They’re good pizzas and good people so I think this place will do very well. It certainly deserves to.”

“There are so many pizza places nowadays that are all part of chains, where all the food is the same, so this is a refreshing change,” said Shadee Else, who was dining with relatives Luke Rock, Jackie Greenhalgh and Neeko Shahabi.

“Coming here is also a great way of support a local independent business. We’ll definitely be back.”

Being frequent visitors to Italy – for work and holidays – the group were able to give an informed verdict on Tesoro.

“The quality is exceptionally high,” said Luke. “We’ve eaten pizzas in Naples, which is where they were invented, and while they were good, I can honestly say the pizzas at Tesoro are even better.”