I was relieved when I got back to Portland and my friend said "I've never heard of New Haven-style Pizza." I'll blame it on my west-coast upbringing, but I'd never heard of it either...until I went to New Haven. God Bless the pizza lovers who have never been there, but now you have to go. My friends took me to Little Italy on Wooster Street, where the two famous pizzerias reside two blocks apart. They are Pepe's and Sally's. We picked Sally's because the line was shorter, albeit ten parties long out the door. (We froze a little while waiting, but we watched the Mayor walk in and out! Thank you, sir, for not experiencing the plight of the regular man.) We were glad at our choice, because on that Sunday night Pepe's down the street had run out of clams! As I learned, it's not quite New Haven pizza without the clams, bacon and white sauce.
Two other characteristics give New Haven pizza its style: it is oblong, so the slices are really long and thin, and it is burnt. Really actually very burnt. Check it out:
Apparently, the New Haven pizza gains some distinction in its presentation, too: the oval-shaped pie gets served on wax paper atop cafeteria trays or sheet pans, they take up the entire table and are served with paper plates. Strange for the tree-hugging westerner, but I won't judge.
This pizza was special. The cheese and clams were milder than I expected -- very easy to eat. The carbon fiber was laden with oil (I watched countless guests, even my friend Todd, absorb the floating oil with their paper napkins), but it enhanced the experience in a surprising way. It wasn't like burnt toast at all. I actually wanted to eat the burnt parts, though they were impossible to avoid. The burnt crust was super thin without tasting like a cracker, and even delightfully chewy in places.
With all the rave about Pepe's and Sally's, I preferred the pizza at "Bar." Todd took me there because they brew their own beer AND throw a reputable New Haven pizza. The beer was terrible (beer flavored soda, actually) but the pizza was extraordinarily flavorful and perfectly balanced.
From their extensive list of toppings, we chose basil, onions, garlic, spinach and fresh tomatoes. We ordered two (one white, one red) and polished them off. The pies came with a rare touch, already topped with oregano, thyme and parmesan. Delicious. This was a pizza where I forgot to put crushed red peppers. It was that good.
NOTE: look at their menu closely. Which one of these things is not like the others? Guess for yourself and then I'll tell you the answer: Mashed Potatoes. Meatballs. Now but them together and you get a pile of food that I find hard to put on a pizza, but guaranteed these two toppings make a lot of people very happy.
ANOTHER NOTE: at the top you see the category "Base Pies." The first is "Red Pie." My guess is that's the classic, marinara sauce, so I'll order that. But no, you wouldn't be getting a pizza with cheese (is it really pizza without cheese?) unless you ordered the next base pie: the Red Pie w/Mozzarella. I have never been to a pizzeria where you have to affirmatively specify that, indeed, I would like cheese on my pizza.
p.s. If you click on the picture itslef, you can see the picture of the clam pizza up close and personal, like you were really there yourself, floating on top!
