Destination New Haven: Evolution of Clam Pizza

Fresh tomato and white clam pizzas from Pepe's

I was recently roped into a recruiting trip to Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Having never been, I did some research on the one distinctive aspect of New Haven cuisine that the area is renowned for--pizza, or "apizza" as it is sometimes referred to locally.

New Haven is home to the Big Three pizza joints. Sally's Apizza and Frank Pepe Pizza Napoletana (affectionately referred to as Pepe's) are within blocks of each other, not too far from Yale's campus. Modern Apizza is off on its own, but still close to school. My original plan was to taste test at least two of the Big Three, but Modern was under renovation and Sally's was closed on the days I was in town. Instead, I pivoted to a comparison between the oldest, Pepe's, and one of the new kids on the block, Bar.

THE ORIGINAL: FRANK PEPE PIZZERIA NAPOLETANA

Even on a Monday night at 9:30 when school is out, there was still a line out the door at Pepe's. Perhaps because Sally's is closed on that day, the wait may have been longer than normal, but I imagine any weekend would bring huge crowds to the inventor of the white clam pizza. The brick coal oven is the most dominant presence in the restaurant. Staffed by cooks with enormously long pizza peels, the kitchen was white and looked a bit sterile. We ordered a forgettable beer and a Foxon Park White Birch Soda, another main draw. All of the Big Three serve this Connecticut soda. Think refreshing spearmint sarsaparilla.

Of course we ordered the white clam pizza, a combination of romano cheese, littleneck clams, oregano and garlic. The clams were unfortunately a bit sparse for the $12 twelve-inch pizza. While solid, the clam pizza's flavor was almost completely dominated by garlic. My favorite aspect was actually the chewiness of the crust. In addition, we ordered the fresh tomato pie, a seasonal pizza topped with locally grown tomatoes. This tomatoes were deliciously sweet, a perfectly serviceable pizza.

THE NEW KID: BAR

Even though I say "new," Bar has been open since 1996, which, in the restaurant business, is long enough to develop an impressive pedigree. But compared to the Big Three, from the 1920s and 1930s, Bar was the hip, youngster. Even though it is relatively new, Connecticut food writer Amy Kundrat thought to include it in her Definitive Guide to New Haven Pizza, which was good enough to bring here.


































That stack of wood is just for show. This oven burns natural gas, unlike the coal and oil ovens of the Big Three. Unlike the other pizza places, Bar also brews its own beer and becomes a nightclub at night. The clientele are younger and probably the kind of people that the clientele at the Big Three complain about. Yet Bar doesn't detour too far from its main purpose. The only food on the menu is pizza and one salad.

As a benchmark, we got the white clam pizza ($18.75). I was aware that Bar is famous for its mashed potatoes topping, but since it best accompanies a white pie and I couldn't stomach another white, I stuck with the white clam and ordered a red pizza with sausage, mushrooms and basil. While the ingredients in the clam pizza were essentially the same as the one from Pepe's, the key game-changer is that the clam pizza at Bar came with a wedge of lemon. The squeeze of citrus brought the seafood to life and cut through the grease and garlic. Stylewise, the pizza also featured an ultra thin crust, which could be a plus if you don't want to feel weighed down.

VERDICT

For me, Pepe's stood for the traditional. Little has changed over the years, though I believe Sally's has struck even closer to its roots. Bar, with its bare brick industrial styling, looked modern, and I daresay even more modern than Modern Apizza. Between Pepe's and Bar, I'd choose Bar, but I will say that Pepe's is worth a trip to get an idea of Bar's lineage. I suppose the true conclusion is to make sure you're in town long enough to eat at each of them.


Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana
pepespizzeria.com
157 Wooster Street
New Haven, CT 06511
(203) 865-5762

Bar
barnightclub.com
254 Crown Street
New Haven, CT 06510
(203) 785-1111

Read More

California's Pizza Kitchen: The Cheese Board Collective

Cheese Board's pizza of the day with gratuitous extra slices

Being a transplant from California to New York, I am often asked to verify New York pizza claims. Is it really that much better? Does it put California pizza to shame? I always respond with the politically calculated answer--they're different. Those who know me know that I don't need to hedge my response to save feelings. If something is objectively better, I'll say it. But pizzas from California and New York really are different. Too often people only make the distinction between Chicago style deep dish and the Neapolitan thin crust as the only two kinds. Yet, my recent trip to Berkeley's famous Cheese Board Collective reaffirmed my conviction that the differences even among thin crust pizzas need to be highlighted and celebrated.


More...
Breaking it down simply, New York pizza is all about simplicity and execution while California pizzas are about complexity and creativity. Both types emphasize the importance of quality ingredients, but the East Coast cares much more about the fundamental building blocks of the pizza--dough, sauce, and cheese. California pizzerias don't cling to tradition; of course they don't, there is no pizza tradition in California. Starting with Wolfgang Puck, the pizza in California has always been innovative and new. The focus is on the ingredients, often a blend of the unexpected. In fact, if you look for a "traditional" pizzeria in California, you're likely to be steered towards New York or Italian transplants.

Just as a personal anecdote, during my first New York pizza experience years ago at Grimaldi's, I had a plain cheese pizza. I hadn't had pizza with no toppings since it was forced on my as a kid at party's thrown by picky eaters. It was then that I realized New York and California pizza just don't compete in the same field. Just as you don't order a pizza with no toppings in California, you don't order a combination pizza in New York.


Long lines, but fast moving customers

The Cheese Board Collective started in 1967 as a cheese shop. In the 1970s, it began baking bread and earned renown for its baked goods. It actually wasn't until 1990 that it began selling pizza, the draw by which I first discovered it. In an informal poll among my friends, any reference to the Cheese Board was always followed by, "the pizza place."



The Cheese Board offers one pizza selection a day with no substitutions. Its emphasis is on fresh, local ingredients, no surprise given the store's location on the other side of the street from Chez Panisse. While many California pizzas strive to impress you with over-the-top exoticism (hello, Jamaican jerk chicken and Peking duck), this pizza was comparatively plain. The pizza was outstanding, with lemon citrus notes and cilantro playing up the garlic and roma tomatoes. Sharp hints of feta gave some variety to the workhorse mozzarella. Best of all, the pizza was accessible, something you think you can make as long as you have the best ingredients.


Live jazz music

The appeal of the Cheese Board is beyond just a solid appreciation for its food. It is a collective, owned and operated by its workers. The open store front and live music play up the atmosphere and it's hard to come out of the experience without a smile. And of course, a healthy amount of civil disobedience was thrown in across the street by patrons without a table at this busy joint. Let's not forget where we are boys and girls.



The Cheese Board Collective
cheesboardcollective.coop
1504 Shattuck Ave.
Berkeley, 94709
(510) 549-3183
$2.50/slice, $20/whole

^

Read More

Hot Day, Cool Market: Grand Lake Farmers' Market

Temperatures in the 80s are considered fairly hot in Oakland. In the shadow of the 580 freeway, cooled by a breeze coming off Lake Merritt, I checked out the Grand Lake Farmers' Market for the first time.
More...
Sad that I missed the Big Apple Barbecue Festival while I was back in California, I took a trip to Lake Merritt instead. I had made it a habit of frequenting the farmers' market near my apartment in New York on a weekly basis. Getting to know the vendors makes the experience rewarding, even if I'm paying more. It's best when they know their stuff and they can tell you everything about their product. I've learned much about duck, pickles and mushrooms this way. I knew there was a small farmers' market in my hometown of Alameda, but since I was missing out on pulled pork, ribs, and sausage, I figured I needed to go big to alleviate my malaise.

While parking was a headache in the lot, a few blocks away I found street parking. I quick walk along the lake was actually quite pleasant anyway. There were dozens of stalls. Most sold fruit. I saw a meat vendor, maybe some seafood too. A large number of stalls were actually selling prepared foods like olive oils, cheeses and jams. A separate section had several food stands. A quick glance revealed some Thai and Afghan food. Mediterranean also seemed a big hit.

One great thing about this market was the availability of samples. Almost every stall had little toothpicks flagging down the customers with their sweet and savory flavors. A great sample of peaches netted a purchase from me. But besides that, most things were understandably expensive. In all, the market was about one-third to a half of the size of the Santa Monica farmers' market.



Although I've never been to Cheeseboard, a failure I will eventually remedy, I had a chance to try another sister pizza co-op in Arizmendi not too far from the market. One pizza a day; that day's was a simple basil, tomato, and goat cheese. But living in New York has taught me one thing--good pizza is all about good ingredients. And simple can go a long way. I will say that California pizzas typically favor interesting toppings, while New York pizzas focus on core ingredients. For example, the pizza I had didn't even have tomato sauce. Unless it's a white pizza, you wouldn't see that in New York. Of course Zachary's is an exception to the deemphasis of tomato sauce in California. But then again, that's not exactly "California" pizza either. Arizmendi still delicious. Can't wait to try the mothership of co-op pizza.



Grand Lake/Lake Merritt Farmers' Market
splashpad.org/farmersmkt.html
Corner of Grand and Lake Park Avenue, across from Grand Lake Theater
9-2 every Saturday

Arizmendi Bakery
arizmendibakery.org
3265 Lakeshore Avenue
Oakland, CA
(510) 268-8849
Other locations in San Francisco, San Rafael, and Emeryville


^

Read More

Old School Brooklyn Pizza: Di Fara

Plastered on the walls of the smoky interior of a little pizza joint in the Midwood neighborhood of Brooklyn are years of praise lavishly bestowed on Domenico DeMarco, proprietor and still principal pizza preparer. Since 1964, DeMarco has stood guard over the gargantuan oven with dough in hand.

More...



So why is the joint called Di Fara when it has always been DeMarco as the stalwart pizza maven? His original business partner was named Farina, and a portmanteau of their names became the famous Di Fara.



Now most people who pride themselves on NY pizza perspicacity will have much to say about Di Fara, but outside the NY circle, large as it may be, Di Fara has not reached the fame of some of the other pizza places. I theorize that this has nothing to do with the quality of the pizza, but rather on the refusal for DeMarco to scale up his operation. The pizza procuring procedure is Byzantine at best, and arriving with a guide is not a bad idea. After waiting the requisite wait in the line that forms outside the restaurant at all hours, make your way up to the counter and choose from the $5 slices or opt for a ~$30 pie. Someone, likely one of DeMarco's children, will write up your order on a scrap of paper and simply call you when it's ready. The additional wait for the pizza could take quite awhile, but you should make sure you return in time, lest your pizza be presented to another patron.



$5 for a slice of pizza. Expensive, yes, but Di Fara doesn't fail to bring in the crowd. Since I didn't make the trip out to Brooklyn too often, I had a slice of the thin, a slice of the deep-dish, and another thin crust pie. While utterly delicious, the pizza was undeniably oily. And though DeMarco might be making each pie himself, there were issues with consistency. Some crust comes out burnt, some too soft. The ingredients are tossed on capriciously by hand, though I'll admit there might be some sort of strategic topping placement that I didn't perceive. As you can see, the pizza is not much to behold, and from experience, I can tell you that next morning cold Di Fara's isn't nearly as appetizing.

Given the long wait, hassle of ordering, cost, and inconsistency, I can see why Di Fara is often a hit or miss for pizza pilgrims. Still, if you're comparing the best pies in town, you can't leave out Di Fara as a contender.

1424 Ave J
Brooklyn, NY 11230
(718) 258-1367
difara.com

^

Read More

Destination Peru #12: Peru has Pizza?

Amaru
Agua Calientes, in the town square with the Incan fountain

I apologize for the lack of addresses or more specific directions, but this is probably the easiest way to find the place paired with the above photo. Restaurant Amaru is upstairs, providing a scenic balcony view of the square.


View from the restaurant

I wonder if you noticed something peculiar about the sign of the restaurant in the first picture. "Bar,restaurant..." yes those all make sense, "...pizzeria"? Now in itself it may not be quite so strange, but pizzeria is actually a fairly common site in Peru. How many of you knew that Peru has pizza, and lots of it? After passing by many of these places, I couldn't help but try it.



And it was good. In fact, so good, it beats most of the pizza I've had here. Maybe it even holds a candle to NY style pizza. Though they are quite different types of pizza, I'd be hard pressed to choose a NY slice over a Peruvian one. The crust was thin, like a slightly risen cracker but crisp from the wood oven. This pizza is a pizza mixta, with ham, palm hearts, olives, bacon, cheese and oregano. As much as NY pizza is defined by the dough and the sauce, I think Peruvian pizzas are characterized by the cheese. I'm tempted to say it's queso fresco, but I can't confirm that. All I know is the the way the ham paired with the gooey strands made me go back to another pizzeria the next day.

Besides the marvelous pizza, I also had an empanada which I regrettably forgot to photograph. The crust was different than the Argentinian ones I had before. It wasn't flaky as much as it was smooth. I think they messed up my order and gave me a pure cheese one. Ultimately, it was too much dairy for me to handle.

Read More

New York Food Fest 2007

Hordes of hungry people lined up along the sidewalk against the backdrop of the Brooklyn Bridge. The door swung open with a deliberate forcefulness. A muscular arm shot out from the door beckoning seductively towards the crowd.

Thinking about my two week trip to New York, the one image that stands out most in my mind of New York food is the manager of Grimaldi's waving in more eager customers. I never intended for food to be the main drive of my trip to the Big Apple, but if food was my religion, this would be my pilgrimage.

The various cuisines I encountered gave me a taste of the extreme variety available in a truly cosmopolitan city. The many cuisines I sampled included Italian, Kosher, Chinese, Korean, Thai, American home-style, Turkish, Indian, Cuban, Middle Eastern and Pizza. Yes, pizza is a type of cuisine; at least it should be in New York.

Here I have listed some categories with restaurants worth mentioning. Below, I have wrote a few words on all the restaurants I went to in the city. The reviews are long, so feel free to just refer to these categories for a quick rundown.

Best Value: Gray's Papaya
Most Worth the Wait: Grimaldi's
Most Over Hyped: Veniero's
Most Courses for Your Money: Taj Mahal
Most Impressive Menu: Big Nick's

Italians have long maintained a dedicated presence in the New York food scene and as such, I expected great things from the Italian places I did visit. Mangia e Bevi, translated "food and drink" in English, offered a variety of seemingly authentic Italian cuisine at the border of Hell's Kitchen. My veal saltimbocca topped with a delicious brown sauce and prosciutto did not disappoint. Well, with a pitcher of white sangria, it's hard to disappoint. Alcoholic judgment impairment aside, this was the second time I came to this restaurant and for good reason. I specifically chose this one to return to because of its great atmosphere and food.

Closer to Union Square on the East side of Manhattan, Cafe Centosette is a dark Italian restaurant serving some common Italian dishes. The bruscetta di pomodoro, only four pieces for $7, failed to qualify for that seven dollars. My lobster ravioli with saffron cream sauce definitely was defined by its sauce, a little salty, but good. However, I would have liked the taste of the ravioli itself to stand up without the excessive use of sauce.

Veniero's, the 111 year-old Italian bakery famous for its cannolis and other Italian pastries, failed to impress me. The cheesecake was much better than the cannoli, but that could just be because of my abhorrence to orange peel which tasted like an ingredient in the cannoli. The service was despicable and in itself a reason to avoid this neighborhood classic.

When I mention kosher, I meant specifically the kosher bagel shop I visited in the Lower East Side near Chinatown, Kossar's Bialys. Following a tip from Zagat's, I arrived at the shop surprised by its draconian interior. They really are just a bakery; they even only sold cream cheese separately and not included with the bagel. My onion bagel was soft and moist, but it lacked the critical crispness of a fresh bagel. I supposed that was my mistake for arriving late in the morning, but otherwise it was still delicious. If you do decide to stop by, pick up a dozen or so and a good tub of cream cheese. I recommend the chive cream cheese.

Flushing, the new Chinatown of New York located in Queens has the feel, and unfortunately the smell, of all the other Chinatowns in the world. Except perhaps the Chinatowns in Canada, I hear those are spectacularly clean. In a quick adventure here, I walked in for a quick, cheap bite at a Four Entrees and a Soup restaurant. In true Panda Express fashion, you take a tray, load it with four things, then grab a soup at the end. And, as in true Panda Express fashion, the food was terrible. Enough said.

Apparently, the Korean district of New York consists of only one street, W. 32nd. Coming from LA, home to one of the largest Korean towns outside of Korea, I did not expect much from this miniature Seoul. Woo Ri Jip, a Korean equivalent to Famima with a buffet line, made me reconsider New York's Korean populace. The buffet food was not spectacular, but for the price, you can get a good amount of different foods.

Thai cuisine fits into American taste buds so readily because of its exoticism and overindulgent sweetness. In truth, good Thai food is supposed to be a balance of the five Thai flavors sweet, savory, spicy, sour, and bitter, but I get the feeling that American Thai restaurants weigh heavier towards our sweet tooths. Klong, in St. Mark's Place, with its signature Klong pad thai wrapped in an egg white omelet, satisfied me with its flavor balance. Its calamari appetizer even made a believer out of a previous squid antagonist.

Near NYU, a popular thai brasserie Cafetasia features low prices for decent food. While their basil udon was too soupy and their service lackluster, my biggest complaint would be the lack of air conditioning. It did not please me to wait so long for a table only to be melting as I ate my meal. The beverages did not even arrive until after the appetizers and entrees. Still, for a standard price of $7 for an appetizer and entree combination, it might be worth it to check it out again.

Upon the recommendation of a resident New Yorker, I went to Big Nick's for a half pound burger. Wanting to evaluate the burger on its simplest merits, I ordered the plain American cheeseburger. What I got was more than I expected. The beef is Angus beef that puts McDonald's new Angus burgers to shame. Cooked to order, Big Nick's burgers made you feel good to eat so much cow meat at once.

Serendipity 3, with a name like that, I never would've expected an $80 check for a group of three. I would consider Serendipity to be the Fenton's of New York, for all you Bay natives. The focus is on the dessert, although they are certainly not cheap. Their signature Frrrozen Hot Chocolate, actually a trademarked name, seemed no more special than a chocolate milk slushie with whipped cream and chocolate shavings. The sundae was also nothing spectacular. There is a $1,000 sundae on the menu that is supposedly covered in edible gold leaf, but that was beyond this food critics purview. I will admit though, I did enjoy Serendipity's coleslaw tremendously.

Hearty and Hale Soups is a chain of soup based fast-food restaurants with numerous locations in Manhattan. Their soup menu changes daily with the impressive claim that one could eat there everyday for a month without repeating a soup. My curried chicken chowder had the appeal of a creamy chowder with a spicy twist.

On that note, for a great lobster bisque, the best I have ever had, go to the Lobster Place in the Chelsea Market. It has incredible depth of flavor and aroma. The Lobster Place is a fish market offering many varieties of seafood all looking relatively fresh and delicious.

New World Grill, North of the Theater District, is a small indoor dining area with a large patio. The food was unmemorable, but if pushed, I would say that the grilled shrimp with coconut sauce is bland and unimaginative.

Up until this trip, I had never went to a Turkish restaurant before. Turkuaz, in the Upper West Side, captured my adventurous side. In a decor designed like the inside of a large tent, the waiters dressed in colorful Turkish vests. My lamb dish with Greek yogurt reminded me of so many other Middle Eastern lamb dishes, but left a mark of its own. The bread they served warm was fluffy and worth a trip on its own.

Nestled in a row of Indian restaurants with similar names, Taj Mahal stands out. As generic a name of an Indian restaurant gets, this one makes an impact with its dinner special. For under ten dollars, I got a drink, soup, appetizer, entree, and dessert. Each course was delicious on its own, but together, made for an even more delightful experience.

Havana Central, with several locations throughout the city, was a pricier Cuban restaurant. The ham sandwich I had for lunch there was one of the better ham sandwiches I have had at Cuban places before. Otherwise, this restaurant was not spectacular.

Mamoun, with at least two locations, one near NYU and one in St. Mark's, is cheap falafel. I had a chicken kebob pita there, but it was still under $5. Other than the price, I did not see anything else worth mentioning.

While in New York, I knew I needed to try this famous pizza that true New Yorkers swear no one else can get right. I went to two places, the first, Ray's Pizza did not strike me as anything earth-shattering, but the second, Grimaldi's, redefined pizza for me. Waiting in line in Brooklyn for more than an hour, I thought that Grimaldi's must be overrated. After all, this was the first restaurant I had ever seen awarded an extraordinary Zagat rating. Upon insistence that I try the plain pizza, I ordered one with no toppings. A good pizza dough and great tomato sauce really do make the pizza. But having discovered that, there was no reason why I could not add some sausage and onions to my next pizza that only improved on the original. Grimaldi's is worth the wait, trust me on that.

Of all the places that I went in New York, only one place did I go more than once. Gray's Papaya, a hot dog chain that specialized in specialty tropical drinks, enchanted me. The drinks that I had, the coconut champagne, pineapple juice, and banana daiquiri (all non-alcoholic) were festive and original, but the true charm came in the hot dogs. While not quite as great as Pink's in LA, Gray's hot dogs had a smoky flavor to them that added to the crunch of the sausage. At $3.50 for two hot dogs and a specialty drink, this deal can't be beat.

Read More