Award-winning pizzeria Forbici opens today with 1,000 free pizzas up for grabs

If you needed an excuse to head to Trafford Centre this week, this might be it.

Award-winning Neapolitan pizzeria Forbici officially opens its doors today at The Orient, and to celebrate, it's giving away 1,000 free full-sized pizzas.

From 11am until 12.30pm on 5th August, visitors can get their hands on one of the complimentary pizzas, giving Manchester food lovers the chance to try the brand's signature Neapolitan-style pizzas completely free.

And that's not where the celebrations end.

On 7th August, The Orient will play host to what's set to be Europe's biggest Rock, Paper, Scissors tournament, with Manchester foodie Zack Hipps leading the action.

Inspired by the restaurant's name - Forbici, the Italian word for "scissors" - thousands of visitors will battle it out across four knockout tournaments taking place at 11.30am, 12.30pm, 1.30pm and 2.30pm.

The prize? A year's supply of Forbici pizza. Pretty good.

T

he new Trafford Centre restaurant is also bringing back two Manchester-inspired specials.

The returning Manchester Tart Pizza combines raspberry jam, silky custard and desiccated coconut on Forbici's signature biga dough, while the Lancashire Hotpot Pizza tops the same slow-fermented base with Fior di Latte, slow-cooked lamb ragù and cracked black pepper.

If you haven't tried Forbici before, it's a little different to your average pizza restaurant.

Its signature three-generation biga dough is slowly fermented to create a light, airy crust before being topped with carefully sourced Italian ingredients. Staying true to its name, every pizza is cut with scissors before being served - a simple touch that has become part of the brand's identity.

The Trafford Centre opening marks Forbici's third restaurant, following successful launches in Manchester and Sheffield. Earlier this year, the Manchester-born brand also received international recognition after being named among the world's top 100 pizzerias at the Best Pizza Awards in Naples.

Safe to say, this isn't just another pizza opening.

Whether you're hoping to grab one of the free pizzas or fancy your chances in the biggest game of Rock, Paper, Scissors you've ever seen, Trafford Centre is going to be the place to be this week.