Pinocchio Wasn’t Lying – Dublin’s Best Cooking Activity!

When I was nine, I went to a kids’ summer camp where they “taught us how to make pizza”—except instead of dough, mozzarella, and fresh tomato sauce, they handed us tortilla wraps, red cheddar, and Dolmio Extra Bolognese. It was like they’d reverse-engineered a takeaway order from 2004 and decided to traumatize a room full of children with it. To this day, I’m not sure if it was a cooking class or a criminal offense, and while I didn’t call the local authorities, I absolutely thought about it.

Thankfully, Pinocchio Cooking School in Dublin offers something a lot more legitimate. Located in Temple Bar’s Italian School of Cooking (1 Pudding Row, Essex Street West), this €68 class is a deep dive into the art of Italian pizza-making, where you’ll learn everything from pizza dough basics to focaccia and calzones.

The host, Giuseppe, wasn’t just an exceptional chef—he was part teacher, part entertainer, part comedian, and fully dedicated to making sure we didn’t embarrass ourselves too much. Under his guidance, 30 of us aspiring pizza artisans got to work on the dough. Kneadless to say (yes, pun intended), Paul and I were humbled. While others crafted actual, edible pizzas, we produced something that looked like it had been through a car crash—except for our calzone, which was somehow perfect.

That said, the teaching was superb, the experience was a great laugh, and the lunch—where we got to enjoy our own (questionable) creations and others who could cook—was top-tier. Whether you’re a couple, a family, or a group of mates, this is a unique and genuinely enjoyable experience in Dublin.

So, if you want to ditch the pints for a day and try something new, Pinocchio Cooking School is 100% worth it—because, for once, Pinocchio wasn’t lying. Click here to book.