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.

AlwaysTraveling: Super Duper Weenie (Fairfield, CT)

Jeff Zalaznick — May 04, 2009

Gary Zemora was working as a chef at Pasta Nostra, a respected South Norwalk Italian restaurant, but he just couldn’t shake the image of a painting he had seen of the 1977 Super Duper Weenie truck. Originally owned by Robert Turner, who first parked it in Norwalk, CT, the truck was sold to Neil Farans, the owner of a Texaco station, who was burdened with selling the thing until Gary Zemora emerged as the truck’s saving grace.

Zemora quit his job and opened up shop in 1992 with the mindset of a serious gourmand. When the restored roadside hot dog truck developed a cult-like following, it was time to open a sit-down restaurant to better accommodate the legions of loyal Super Duper Weenie diners. Now located in Fairfield, CT, the specialty of the house are the locally-sourced, smoked hot dogs, which are split down the middle and cooked on a griddle until a crusty shell seals the succulent juices inside. The dog that Gary uses is very important to him, and when you ask him about it, he laments for the local butcher from which he once sourced his hot dogs. On his old butcher, “A great man ran this business for 50 years, and then his son comes in and fucks the whole thing up.” He is happy with his current meat, but admits that it will never compare to what he once had. Luckily, he maintains such a high quality operation that no one else would notice, but, like many great chefs, Zemora is a perfectionist. Only fresh-baked rolls will suffice, and Zemora’s high-standards also inform his homemade condiments— meat chili, onion sauce, coleslaw, and sweet and hot relishes (both made from scratch with Zemora’s own pickled cukes). With such care put into the accoutrements, it’s only fitting that the menu offers spellbinding combinations like the Dixie (meat chili and coleslaw) and the New Yorker (sauerkraut, onion sauce, mustard and hot relish).

Fresh cut and served hot out of the fryer, salt-and-pepper French Fries are a must whether you’re eating a New Englander (sauerkraut, bacon, mustard, sweet relish and raw onion) or Super Duper Chicken Nuggets. Even the nuggets get the homemade treatment. Pounded cutlets are sliced, tossed in the Super Duper seasoning blend, then deep-fried to golden perfection. Although it feels weird to say it, these may well be the best chicken fingers that I have ever had. Not only because they are treated with such care , but also because they are served with the most exquisite homemade BBQ sauce, and with a specially sourced honey mustard that totally seals the deal. Zemora also is famous for his soups. During my visit, he forced some New England Clam Chowder on me, and, much to my surprise, it was delicious. The clams were fresh, and the broth had the perfect consistency. Making soup is a passion of his, and something that he often does for off site catering. Super Duper Weenie is the ultimate road trip food stop when it comes to cuisine and charm, and the perfect amuse bouche on a drive up to New Haven for pizza. Next time you are heading north on I-95, make it happen.

AlwaysInvestigating: Clam Pie Wars

The Hungry Goat — April 20, 2009

One thing’s for certain, L’asso isn’t afraid of instigating a little friendly neighborhood competition. It’s not like they’re picking on the little guys either—this relatively new pizzeria (with D.O.C. credentials) is aiming high, pressuring some of the city’s most renowned and beloved pizza institutions. First L’asso took on Artichoke Basille’s artichoke pie. Now they’re going up against “America’s first pizzeria,” Lombardi’s, trying to one-up their signature clam pie. This brazen newcomer’s clam pizza was unabashedly unveiled on their specials board just last week. Though we all know that New Haven is the only place to eat a true clam pie, we went down to SoHo to see how these stacked up.

Lombardi’s

Biting into this slice immediately conjures flavors of an authentic Spaghetti Vongole. The 14” pizza comes absolutely loaded with chopped top necks that provide a nice sea-salty essence. Texture-wise though, they are a little too chewy. Fortunately the dough is excellent—thin, crisp, slightly doughy, with the perfect amount of salt-that makes up for a few tough clams. A whole sliced lemon is presented in the pie’s center, and after spritzing it over a slice you will understand why it’s there. The acid brightens and rounds out the flavors of the clams and the powerful garlic.
Grade: B+

L’asso

At 12” across this personal-sized pie is smaller than Lombardi’s and also much thinner. L’asso is known for their thin crust and it’s pleasantly crunchy, but it does veer dangerously close to being cracker-like. With a pie that had a sauce, this probably wouldn’t be a problem, but as is, it comes off a little dry and under-seasoned. The clams are less generously spread on this pie, but they are bigger and more tender. As with the Lombardi’s pizza, adding lemon juice is game-changing. We do recommend however, that you spritz the juice on your pizza one slice at a time, so the crust does not get too soggy. You should also note that at $19, L’asso’s pizza is significantly cheaper than Lombardi’s $26 pie.
Grade: B