AlwaysHolidays: On the Ninth Day of Christmas

Arthur Bovino and Maryse Chevrière — December 20, 2009

Technically, the Twelve Days of Christmas don’t start until Christmas Day, but we’re already in the spirit. To celebrate over the next three days, here’s the carol, ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’ AlwaysHungry-style, featuring some dishes we tasted in 2009 that we’d be willing to sing about.

Nine Ladies Dancing. Margherita is a woman’s name, perhaps the most important one when it comes to pizza. And pizza dough dances in the air when tossed by some pizzaiolos. Badabing badaboom.

So today’s Christmas food carol begins:

On the ninth day of Christmas, my waiter brought to me… nine pies a-twirling,

Top, DiFara. Left to right by row: Patsy’s, John’s of Bleecker, Pizza Moto, Co., Veloce Pizzeria, Frank Pepe, Motorino, and Kesté Pizza & Vino, all Margheritas.

Click Here for Lyrics >>

AlwaysTraveling: New Haven Pie-by-Pie (New Haven, CT)

Arthur Bovino and Maryse Chevrière — November 12, 2009

Top from left: Frank Pepe’s Medium Shrimp Pie with Red Sauce, Large Plain Pie at Sally’s Apizza, and Modern Apizza’s Medium Italian Bomb.

Frank Pepe’s Yonkers location just recently opened so in honor of New Haven-style pizza coming to New York, we’re sharing our recent experience of trying New Haven’s three most well-known pizzerias on one day during a pizza club outing organized by pizza blogger, Jason Feirman of I Dream of Pizza.

Click for Pictures of New Haven Pizza from Frank Pepe's, Sally's, and Modern >>

AlwaysTraveling: Frank Pepe’s “The Spot” Pie-by-Pie (New Haven, CT)

Arthur Bovino — October 02, 2009

One of the fifty-odd trained pizzaiolos, at his craft at Frank Pepe’s “The Spot” in New Haven.

Restaurant: Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana (site)
Address: 157 Wooster Street, New Haven, CT 06511 (map)
Hours: Pizzeria Napoletana, Mon-Sat 11:30am-10pm, Sun 12pm-10pm. The Spot, Mon-Tue closed, Wed-Sat 4pm-10pm, Sun 2pm-8pm.
AlwaysHungry Grade: A
AlwaysHungry Recommends: Clam Pizza, Clam Pizza with Bacon, Tomato Pie, Sausage Pie

You’ve heard the clamor: the line, The Guardian’s declaration that it’s the best place in the world to eat pizza, and claims about them having the world’s best clam pie. The following recent five-pizza pie-by-pie meal is to honor the scheduled November 2nd opening in Yonkers (1955 Central Avenue) of New York’s first Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana.

Click here for pictures of Frank Pepe's beautiful "apizzas" at The Spot >>

AlwaysTraveling: Frank Pepe’s Clam Pizza (New Haven, CT)

June 18, 2009

Frank Pepe’s Clam Pie with an “advanced” topping: bacon

When it comes to Clam Pie, there is much to consider: canned vs. fresh, cheese/no cheese, with sauce or without? But after all the debate, there is only one clam pie. Everything else is imitation. The Original Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana, established in New Haven, Connecticut in 1925, is famous for an old-fashioned, coal-fired “apizza” with a chewy, crust. In addition to its famed “Tomato Pie,” Pepe is also renowned for its White Clam Pizza. But don’t be fooled by the word ‘pizza.” Pepe’s clam pie does not have mozzarella cheese on it, at least not the one we’re rhapsodizing. You can request cheese (and red sauce) but they discourage it. Rather, it is characterized by an abundance of freshly-shucked, briny littleneck clams, a intense dose of garlic, olive oil, oregano and grated cheese atop a charcoal-colored crust. Some people say that Sally’s Apizza on Wooster Street, a few blocks away offers competition. It’s true that Sally’s clam pie is superb, but it doesn’t measure up to Frank Pepe.

It is this disclaimer, this daunting reputation, this clam-pie munching, ten thousand-pound gorilla in the room that must precede any conversation about New York City’s best clam pizza. While no clam pie here can compare to Frank Pepe’s or even Sally’s, Lombardi’s (the first New York establishment to start serving them), and several other pizzerias have made valiant attempts.

Click here to find out AlwaysHungryNY.com’s Top 5 Clam Pie.

Have an idea for a Top 5? We’d love to hear from you. Go to the bottom of a Top 5 page and enter your suggestion into the “Suggest a Top 5” field along with your rankings and your email address.