A Pizza Addict Tried The "World's Best Pizza" And Here's How It Rated

Isn't ALL pizza the best pizza though?

Hi there, my name's Jemima and I really, really love pizza.

Jemima Skelley

This has been my Facebook photo for nearly two years, and will probably remain so forever. Once I tried to eat a metre-long pizza in under an hour, and honestly nearly died. Two days later, I had pizza for dinner.

I really love pizza.

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Now we've established that, let's start the story. Recently I found out that an Australian pizza maker won "best pizza in the world". Sounds fake, right?

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This guy is Johnny Di Francesco, owner of pizzeria 400 Gradi in Melbourne. He was the first Aussie pizza chef to be trained in Naples to the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana VPN rules, which is like attending the Harvard of pizza making.

In 2014, he won the "Napoletana" category at the Campionato Mondiale Della Pizza in Parma, Italy, which is the biggest pizza championship in the world. Basically, it's the Pizza Olympics, and I would like my ashes scattered there when I die. They even have categories for pizza aerobics and best dough spinning.

Now, I'm no pizza snob. I love a Domino's pizza just as much as I love the fancy, overpriced woodfired varieties.

Jemima Skelley

Jemima Skelley

(I looked through my phone to find photos of me eating pizza but all I found were these A+ Snapchats.)

At times, I even prefer the cheaper alternatives with thicker bases, heaps of toppings, and preservative-filled, stringy cheese. But when I eat a good quality pizza, I appreciate the shit out of it.

So I set off to Melbourne to try this "best pizza" for myself. And tbh, it looked pretty damn good.

Jemima Skelley

Jemima Skelley

It had the right amount of cheese without being too cheesy. There's nothing worse than eating your third slice, when it's cooled down a little, and being greeted with rubbery, room-temperature cheese. I'm a huge fan of the edges of pizza crusts, and was not disappointed with how airy and thick this looked. Also, the base wasn't so thin that I couldn't pick it up without all the toppings sliding off, which is my biggest pet peeve.

My first thought: "Damn, that's good."

Jemima Skelley

The dough was sweeter than I normally like, but somehow it worked really well. It was sweet in a good, subtle way, and not in an American-bread-type way. The tomato sauce was PERFECT, with just the right amount of herby flavour, and the pieces of basil weren't as overpowering as they often can be. It was a little oily, but nowhere near as oily as chain store pizzas can be. Overall, it was a fucking good pizza.

But was it the best pizza in the world? Probs not, hey.

Jemima Skelley

It's probably the best pizza that I've ever had in Australia, only beating Sydney's La Disfida by a very small margin. The pizzas I've eaten in Italy and NYC were better, at least in my books. But tbh you can't go to Italy every day, so this is certainly a suitable alternative.

And if I've learned anything, it's that pizza judging is very subjective. I'd be just as happy chowing down on a $5 Domino's in bed as I would be eating the best pizza in Australia.

Jemima Skelley

¯\_(ツ)_/¯. How great is pizza, though? ❤️