Somewhere between Heaven and Hell in New Haven

The outstanding Clam Pie at Frank Pepe

Original Tomato Pie

The extra long pizza peel at Frank Pepe

How to get your pie crust exquisitely charred. The pies don't go in here, this is just the heat source for the oven.

Mark, Adam, Ian, Joe D., Amanda, Miranda and Tien standing in line at Sally's Apizza.

Mozzarella pie at Sally's

Yesterday I joined the Slice Pizza Club for their first out-of-town pizza tasting. Ten people in three separate cars drove up to New Haven, CT to try the legendary pizza at Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana and Sally's Apizza. Frank's was first. Eight of sat down at one booth, (two others arrived later and were seated at their own table) where we ordered a large clam, mozzarella, and mushroom pies and a small plain pie. In New Haven, mozzarella is an extra ingredient on pizza --plain consists of sauce and parmesan. All were good, but the clam pie was outstanding. It had an abundance of clams and garlic. The simple beauty of the plain pie was also a stand out.

Frank Pepe has an enormous coal-fired pizza oven. Enthusiastic pizza fans with digital cameras prevailed upon the perplexed pizza maker to open up the furnace door for us. The staff at Frank Pepe was extremely friendly and accomodating to the ten New Yorkers.

Splitting four pies between eight people took its toll on our appetites, but we walked down Wooster St to stand in line at Sally's. Although Frank Pepe and Sally's Apizza both draw food tourists, Sally's seems to favor locals "in the know". We ordered three medium pizzas: mozzarella, clam, and their special, a potato-onion and rosemary. It took over an hour for the pizzas to arrive, whereupon the server threw paper plates onto our table. I, along with the rest of the group, was pretty wilted by then as there wasn't much air circulation in Sally's. Our server also chose to ignore us for most of that hour.

The clam pie at Sally's paled in comparison to Frank Pepe. I had too much oil (as did the mozzarella pie), didn't have as much garlic, and the clams were minced. The mincing of the clams made the whole slice taste like clams, rather than the more complex intermingling of flavors of the pie at Frank Pepe. I much preferred the potato-onion pie. I've had it elsewhere before, and this pie was exceptional. The potatoes were sliced really thin, and there was rosemary and oregano included. The crusts at Sally's were thin, crispy and delicious.

We bailed out quickly after eating as the heat inside was just to oppressive. After recovering a bit outside we walked to an Italian pastry shop for refreshing Italian ices to top off the evening. All in all a great trip. Thanks, Adam, for putting it together!

Tien on the trip to New Haven
Slice NY on New Haven Pizza: Part 1

Comments

[tien]

damn, such a pained expression i had.

[joe]

If only the photo could have captured the groans.

Is that my finger in the lower right? Damn, I'm one good photographer!

[Adam]

Nice photos, Joe. I think I've got a photo that rivals yours for a pained, drained expression from Tien. I like what you said about the minced clam being overwhelming. That makes sense, as it'd be like minced garlic vs. sliced. More surface area to taste.

[joe]

It sounds like a good theory doesn't it? I was trying to think of why the pies would have tasted so different and remembered advice someone once gave me to fry all the ingredients separately in a stir-fry so that they retain their individual flavors. The same sort of thing is happening here, I think, the big clam pieces retained their distinct "clamness" but the minced clams spread it out everywhere.

[stef]

Gosh. Let me say, as an italian (against my will): this pizza looks ugly :-)

[joe]

looks can be deceiving, those pizzas were delicious!

[Mark Katakai]

Dear owner of this webpage:

My name is Mark Katakai, a writer from New York Walker Magazine ditributing free in Tri-State area. I am working on a story about New Haven and its original pizza.

I would like to get permission to use one of your photos in the magazine off this webpage, which is the picture of the white clam pie. If you can provide me with the photo with higher resolution (300dpi), I would greatly appreciate it.

My E-mail Address is katakai@ny-walker.com

Best Regards,

[Ronald Goldman]

Tom,

These are the pizzarias I grew up on that Kim and I go to everytime that we go to CT. Look closely at the beautiful art of a real true brick oven pizza. You will be licking your fingers days after you finish your pizza. You have to eat there yourself to truly experience the very best. There are others in the area just as good without the long lines but, these are 2 of the most poular. Sally is short for Salvator. His wife and daughter still run the place. Right down the sidewalk is Pepe's Apizza. HHHMMM Good!!

Ron

[Ronald Goldman]

Hi Flo and Ruth,Ruth thanks for hooking us up with your friend Tomasso at Taoromias resteraunt in manhatten(mulberry street). your Mother knew my Great Aunt Antoniette Cassella, who owned Cassellas liquor store on Grand Avenue, and my Grandfather use to own Abatos plumming on Grand Avenue for forty(40)years! right across the street from Grand apizza. since i have been a little kid, your sauce still remains the very sweetest in the business! when in season, your broccolli rabe and sausage pizza is undisputable! and your bacon and onion rules! and your bianco and anchovie pizzas are the best kept secret! ANCOVIE HATERS, you will never know what you are missing until you sink your teeth into sallys' anchovie pie!! you haven't lived yet! your plain mozzarella proves what real mozzerella should taste like! and your tuna with red sauce is unparelled to your clam and bacon pie. i can't get enough of the flavor from the coals from the authentic brick oven, that leaves all the black soot all over my face and fingers!! your succulent thin crust will never be left behind! and my chin will never go without pure olive oil dripping from it. anyone who has experienced eating at your pizzeria has been truly blessed!!you need a twelve-step program(support group) for all new generation SALLY ADDICTS!