Rino's Pizza Debuts in Diplo Al Sahel and Cairo is Up Next

CairoScene

2 days ago

Rino's Pizza Debuts in Diplo Al Sahel and Cairo is Up Next
'It all started in my backyard,' Ramy Rainer, founder of Rino's Pizza, tells SceneEats. 'Inviting friends for pizza nights over candle-lit dinners.'
For the past three years, Rainer has been buried deep in the world of Neapolitan pizza - reading, researching, even building his own brick oven. What began as a series of cultish Cairo pop-ups has now, somewhat tentatively, found a home. This summer, Rino's is taking up seasonal residency at Diplo 3, Sahel's sun-soaked, see-and-be-seen summer playground.
The pop-ups, Rainer admits, always lacked one thing. 'People got the pizza, but not the mood, the full experience of being in the place, feeling the heat of the oven, the energy of the kitchen.' The Diplo branch is an attempt to fix that. 'People have been asking for a 'Rino's place' for so long. I wanted to give them a space, but just for the summer. After Sahel, we'll open in Cairo.'
The Diplo space is deliberately pared back: an open-air terrace beneath a vine-wrapped pergola, with Rino's signature terracotta red wrapping the facade and framing the open kitchen - both the physical and emotional centre of the operation. With just six seats, the layout is built for intimacy. A spot for true pizza devotees.
Rino's forthcoming Cairo branch, by contrast, will be an entirely different stage. At its centre: a single, hulking brick oven, designed as a kind of live-performance altar where pizza-makers work like theatre actors - flipping dough, coaxing flames, drawing in diners as their audience. 'It's like a movie,' Rainer says. A Neapolitan shrine, of sorts.
What's the secret to the perfect Neapolitan dough? Rainer doesn't hesitate. 'Two things,' he says. 'First, fermentation, very specific temperatures, really longgggg time. That's how you get the dough so airy, so light it's almost a cloud.'
And the second? 'It's all about the sweet spot, when the crust is just about to burn, but not quite. That's where the flavour lives.' It's not something you time. 'It's in the hands.'
And what kind of community does he hope to build at Diplo? 'I just want people who really love Neapolitan pizza, people who get it. It's not about being fancy. It's about quality. The magic is in the details.' That rigour goes far beyond technique. 'We always thrive to use the best ingredients we can get, from the flour, salt, and water in the dough, to the toppings on each pizza. Everything is top-notch. That's what makes the difference.'