I’ve walked past Lucio Paduano’s Manifesto on Rathmines Road for months with the anticipation of trying “The World’s Best Pizza.” It’s a little hole in the wall; a door and a window where you can see the brass oven where all the deliciousness is made.

After dreaming of this pizza for months, we finally popped in one evening on one of Dublin’s recent gorgeous days. The tiny interior lined with intimate tables was packed. We should have made a reservation, but we only had to wait about 20 minutes. We sat down at a comfy table in the midst of being transported to a small Italian village. The smell was incredible. One thing I did not know walking through the door was that Lucio’s kitchen is 100% coeliac friendly (all gluten free) meaning that they make their own pastas, sauces, bread, and dessert daily. Something you don’t usually come across in other Italian restaurants!

They have traditional Italian food other than pizza which sounded amazing, but it seemed like everyone, including us, was there for the same reason: the famous pizza. I’m sure some of the other customers were regulars, but we ordered the Mamy pizza which was awarded the gold medal for best pizza in the world in 2006. It was a mix of buffalo mozzarella, ham, and pepperoni amongst other things. Because you don’t always see calzones Italian menus we decided we couldn’t pass it up.

Needless to say, the best pizza in the world lived up to its gold medal! It was in an out of the oven and in front of us in about five minutes and I was in some sort of pizza heaven. Not only are they known for their pizza, but they have a novel of a wine list from all over Italy. Super satisfied with our meal and experience at Manifesto, the icing on the cake was seeing the owner indulging himself in the same pizza we ordered while speaking Italian to his friends. Truly authentic, and when the natives, especially the owner, are eating their own food, that’s when you know it’s worth a visit. Manifesto goes against the greasy fatty stereotype with their thin crust and light flavours and I am already dreaming about my return.

Manifesto rathmines