New York has its foldable sidewalk slices, Chicago its buttery-crusted deep-dish, but many would argue that the best pizza in the US – or anywhere – is found in New Haven, Connecticut, home of Yale University. Here, the “apizza” (pronounced ah-beets) traces its roots and distinctive nickname back to Neapolitan immigrants, though it has evolved into something to horrify purists back in the old country.
It all began in 1925 when baker Frank Pepe started making thin-crust “tomato pies” in a coke-fired oven at his eponymous restaurant, Frank Pepe at 157 Wooster Street. The standard dish consisted of nothing more than lightly charred, slow-fermented dough with tomato sauce. Mozzarella – “mootz” – was extra. A scattering of garlicky fresh clams later became the signature topping.
In 1938, Pepe’s nephew, Salvatore Consiglio, founded Sally’s Apizza down the block at 237 Wooster Street, launching a heated rivalry that continues to this day. Both places sport similar menus, formidable queues, and celebrity clienteles that have included Ronald Reagan (Pepe’s) and Frank Sinatra (Sally’s). Pepe’s now has several other branches while Sally defiantly remains a one-shop operation.
Less famous but friendlier, Modern Apizza (874 State Street) has been quietly dishing up more generously topped pies since 1934. And relative newcomer Bar (254 Crown Street) has been luring a studenty crowd for almost a decade with its house-brewed beer, nightclub and bubbly crusts topped with mashed potatoes and bacon. It may not be the way nonno made it, but for the latest generation, it’s amore.
