Welcome to the MedLibrary.org Wikipedia Supplement on Apizza -- Please Click to Return to Front Page

Pizza

History of pizza Pizza delivery Pizza Varieties New York-style pizza Sicilian pizza · Greek pizza Chicago-style pizza Pizza al taglio New Haven-style pizza Hawaiian pizza California-style pizza St. Louis-style pizza Mexican pizza · Pissaladière Detroit-style pizza Similar Dishes Lahmacun · Focaccia Manakish · Coca Sardenara· Calzone Pita · Flammkuchen Paratha · Naan Green onion pancake Tomato pie · Pizza bagel Grilled pizza · Deep-fried pizza Garlic fingers · Sausage bread Farinata · Quesadilla Pizza tools Pizza cutter · Mezzaluna Peel · Masonry oven Events World Pizza Championship Long Island Pizza Festival & Bake-Off

Plain tomato sauce pie from Pepe's in Fairfield, Connecticut

White clam pie from Pepe's in New Haven, Connecticut

Mozzarella pie from Pepe's in New Haven, Connecticut

New Haven-style pizza is a style of Neapolitan pizza common in and around New Haven, Connecticut, locally known as "Apizza". It originated at the Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana¹ and is now served in many other pizza restaurants in the area, most notably, Sally's Apizza, Bar Bru Room and Modern Apizza. Pepe's and Sally's are consistently rated among the best pizzerias in the United States, giving this geographically limited pizza style considerable culinary importance.^{citation needed}

Characteristics

New Haven-style pizza is distinguished from most other forms by not being perfectly round (or rectangular). Most American pizzerias would consider a plain pizza to be just crust, tomato sauce, and mozzarella, but in a New Haven-style pizzeria a "plain" pizza is just crust, oregano, chopped garlic, and tomato sauce with a little bit of grated parmesan or pecorino romano cheese sprinkled on. Mozzarella (called "mootz" in the New Haven-Italian dialect) is considered to be a topping; if a customer wants it then they have to ask for it. When Frank Pepe began making his "tomato pies" on Wooster Street in the early 1920s, the only varieties were "plain" and "marinara" (tomato sauce, grated cheese, and anchovies). Later on, Pepe invented the "white clam pie" due to his own allergies to tomatoes and mozzarella. Pepe's restaurant use to serve littleneck clams on the half shell at the bar. It was only a matter of time before he decided to put the clams on the pizza.² The pizza is just crust, olive oil, oregano, grated cheese, chopped garlic, and fresh littleneck clams. Since then, the white clam pie has become the signature pizza among the New Haven pizzerias, who will try to discourage any customers from ordering it with mozzarella. What really sets New Haven-style pizza apart from other styles is its thin crust. Being cooked in a brick oven causes the crust to become very crispy on the bottom, charred on the top, and chewy throughout. New Haven-style pizzerias make sure that they use a nice balance of sauce, cheese, and toppings. They feel that too much of any of the ingredients causes the pizza to become too heavy and rich.^{citation needed}

Cooking and serving methods

New Haven-style pizza is traditionally baked in a coal- or wood-fired brick oven and is typically sold whole rather than by the slice. Most New Haven-style pizzerias also serve East Haven-based Foxon Park soft drinks, which many locals argue are the perfect beverages to accompany New Haven-style pizza.^{citation needed}

Name

Use of the term "apizza" (pronounced "ah-Beetz") is mostly confined to the Italian-American enclaves of southern Connecticut, and is likely derived from the local Italian-American dialect.^{citation needed} The dish is more widely known throughout the region as simply "New Haven-style pizza", as opposed to "New York-style pizza" which remains the dominant style of pizza-making throughout the rest of New England as well as the Mid-Atlantic states.

Availability

Although most commonly available in the New Haven area, New Haven-style pizza has begun to spread to other parts of Connecticut. It is now commonly available in the Italian American areas of Bridgeport, and other shoreline communities.

New Haven-style pizza is also beginning to be served in areas typically not known for large Italian American populations, including Manchester in the central part of the state. Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana opened locations in Fairfield, Connecticut in 2006 and Manchester in 2007 with additional locations scheduled to open in Yonkers, New York in 2009 and the Mohegan Sun casino in Uncasville, Connecticut in 2010. Randy's Wooster St. Pizza is also in Manchester.³ Other restaurants serving New Haven-style pizza include DePalma's Apizza in neighboring East Haven, McBride's in Wolcott, Connecticut, Apizza in Stayton, Oregon, ⁴,Pete's New Haven Style Apizza in Washington, DC.⁵ and Piece Brewery & Pizzeria in Chicago, IL⁶

Notable establishments

• Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana. 157 Wooster Street. New Haven, Connecticut.
• Modern Apizza. 874 State Street. New Haven, Connecticut.
• Sally's Apizza. 237 Wooster Street. New Haven, Connecticut.
• The Spot (a.k.a. The Original Frank Pepe's Pizzeria Napoletana). 163 Wooster Street. New Haven, Connecticut.
• The Bru Room @ BAR. 254 Crown Street. New Haven, Connecticut.
• Grand Apizza. 111 Grand Avenue. New Haven, Connecticut.
• Abaté Apizza and Seafood Restaurant. 129 Wooster Street. New Haven, Connecticut.
• Amato's Apizza & Ristorante. 858 State Street. New Haven, Connecticut.
• Dayton Street Apizza. 60 Dayton Street. New Haven, Connecticut.
• De Palma's Apizza. 440 Main Street. East Haven, Connecticut.
• Tolli's Apizza. 410 Main Street. East Haven, Connecticut.
• Zuppardi's Apizza. 179 Union Avenue. West Haven, Connecticut.
• Da' Carmine Pizzeria. 223 East Main Street. Branford, Connecticut.
• Bobby's Apizza. 1179 Foxon Road. North Branford, Connecticut.
• Eli's Brick Oven Pizza & Market. 2402 Whitney Avenue. Hamden, Connecticut.
• Little Rendezvous, Pratt St. Meriden, CT
• Roseland Apizza. 350 Hawthorne Avenue. Derby, Connecticut.
• Piece Brewery & Pizzeria. 1927 W North Avenue. Chicago, Illinois.
• Tomatoes Apizza. 24369 Halsted Road. Farmington Hills, Michigan.
• Pete's New Haven Style Apizza. 1400 Irving Street NW. Washington, DC.
• Apizza. 281 N 3rd Avenue. Stayton, Oregon.
• Apizza Scholls. 4741 SE Hawthorne Boulevard. Portland, Oregon.
• Conte's Bar. 339 Witherspoon Street. Princeton, New Jersey.

Defunct notable establishments

• Bimonte's Pizza Castle. 2402 Whitney Avenue. Hamden, Connecticut.
• Paul's Apizza. 240 Hemingway Avenue. East Haven, Connecticut.

References

• Shelton, Jim. "You say Sally's, I say Pepe's" New Haven Register, July 21, 2002.

Wikipedia content modification information:

• This page was last modified on 31 December 2008, at 15:37.

Wikipedia Authorship and Review

Wikipedia content provided here is not reviewed directly by MedLibrary.org. Wikipedia content is authored by an open community of volunteers and is not produced by or in any way affiliated with MedLibrary.org.

Wikipedia Usage Guidelines

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article on "Apizza".

The URL for this specific entry is:

• http://medlibrary.org/medwiki/Apizza

All Wikipedia text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See Copyrights for details). Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.