![]() Pizzas cook for six to 10 minutes at around 600 degrees. It’s that oven and its dry heat, Bimonte-Kelly says, that gives Frank Pepe pizza its chewy, crispy, and charred crust. The mall location will feature a 104,000 pound coal-fired oven, a replica of the one at the New Haven original. “It’s my grandfather’s legacy and we’re carrying it though,” says Jennifer Bimonte-Kelly, who acts as the family spokesperson.įrank Pepe’s coal-fired oven. The Frank Pepe enterprise is now run by family members. It’s about time-the restaurant first announced plans to open here in December 2019, but was set back by Covid-related delays and shutdowns. Now, there are 11 suburban New England spinoffs and, come Monday, a branch in Bethesda’s Westfield Montgomery Mall. In honor of the city’s pizza prowess, we’ve created a guide and map to New Haven’s historic and diverse pizzerias.In 1925, Frank Pepe opened his first pizza shop in Connecticut, introducing the coal-fired thin-crust pies that would come to define New Haven-style pizza (it still draws long lines for its white clam pie). These include Zuppardi’s in West Haven, Roseland in Derby, and Ernie’s and Abate’s in New Haven.Īnd then there are “new kids on the block” like One 6 Three and Da Legna, where pizzamakers aren’t afraid to get creative with gourmet toppings (pulled pork or truffle honey, anyone?) Yorkside Pizza, a favorite among Yalies for almost five decades, has Greek roots, not Italian, and the Koutroumanis family proudly serves Greek dishes alongside its pies. Modern Apizza on State Street is also considered one of the “Big 3” (and the only three pizza places in the world that matter, according to Gorman Bechard’s documentary “Pizza: A Love Story.”)īut beyond the trifecta, the area has other multi-generational pizzerias where traditions largely remain unchanged. ![]() Two New Haven pizzerias are credited with putting the city’s pizza scene on the map: Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana, started by Italian immigrant Frank Pepe in 1925, and Sally’s Apizza, launched by Pepe’s nephew Sal Consiglio in 1938. ![]() White clam pizza, another signature Elm City favorite, highlights the shellfish with fresh garlic, parsley, olive oil and Romano cheese. Tomato pies, featuring tangy tomato sauce and just a scattering of Parmesan or pecorino romano, are New Haven classics on their own, as some of the city's top spots consider "mootz" a topping. Some of the earliest pizzerias opened with coal-fired ovens, and still use them to this day. Apizza boasts a thin, chewy crust, charred from its high-heat ovens. The traditional style is revered for its simplicity. What (and who) is New Haven-style apizza? “How did New Haven do this in such a great way?” “There’s this awe and wonder of how this pizza is so good,” Caplan said. He called the Elm City "the up and coming underdog of big pizza cities." New Haven’s reputation for pizza is comparable to Philadelphia’s for the cheesesteak, Miami’s for the Cubano sandwich and Texas for barbecue in general, historian Colin Caplan told the New Haven Register in 2018. Celebrities and politicians have made stops for pies when they’re in the area - most recently Vice President Kamala Harris, whose team picked up Sally’s and Zuppardi’s in March.Ĭonnecticut natives have even replicated their hometown style across the country, bringing the famous pies to Chicago, Denver, Portland and the Bay Area. Historians have studied its origins and filmmakers even made a documentary about three of the Elm City’s most famous pizza pillars. National food experts rank its pizzerias at the top of annual awards lists. New Haven’s reputation as a top pizza city is unassailable.
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