Review: Zuppardi's Apizza, North Haven CT

In Connecticut for the weekend, I had the opportunity to meet some friends for lunch on Mother's Day. In previous trips for New Haven apizza, I had been to Modern Apizza (reviewed HERE), Frank Pepe's (reviewed HERE), and (just the day before), Sally's Apizza (reviewed HERE). Next on my list, and chosen largely for the reputation of their clam pizza, was Zuppardi's in North Haven.

My wonderful Quinnipiac classmates, Genna and Lisa

Zuppardi's is less of a tourist attraction than Pepe's and Sally's; it had the feel of a long-standing neighborhood pizza joint largely untouched by time. It didn't feel like a lovely relic of the 50s or 60s such as you might experience at Sally's, the now-shuttered DeLorenzo's of Hudson Street (reviewed HERE), or Philly's Tacconelli's (reviewed HERE). It was more of a 70s vibe, in all the best possible ways. Homey, not fancy, comfortable, unpretentious.

Not a fancy kitchen!

We had four adults, two small (and adorable) kids, and some pent-up appetite, so we ordered a lot of apizza. Because I was the only one keen on the clam pie, I chose a small. There were two clam pies on the menu -- whole baby clams for $11.50, and freshly-opened littlenecks for $22.75. A lot of money for a small pie, but when would I get this chance again? 

Click on any pic to enlarge for better details

This clam pie deserved three pics!

The waitress steered us to the fresh-shucked clam pie, and asked if we wanted it "with mootz." I pondered the cheese question and asked how she recommended it, and unhesitatingly she said "no mootz." We gladly followed her suggestion.

How to eat pizza and not burn the roof of your mouth

We were a meat-pie bunch, so our other two pies (both large apizzas) included one sausage apizza and one that was half pepperoni and half bacon.

The clam pie was beautiful with a rich golden glow. Like other transcendent pizzas, its beauty was its simplicity and short list of ingredients, applied sparingly. I could detect nothing other than a brilliantly crisp thin crust, fresh-shucked clams, lots of fresh garlic, a touch of aged Italian cheese (Romano?), some topside moisture that was perhaps a mix of clam juice and olive oil, and a dusting of light herbs.

iPad doubles as pizza plate

The clams were tender, juicy, fresh, delicious. But they were mostly a flavoring agent, because the magic occurred when the garlic, oil, fresh clam juice, and aged cheese blended on the surface of that crust. In one sense, I felt like I was eating the best garlic bread I ever had.

That clam pie was world class, remarkable apizza, perfect in flavor and texture. Please read more about it in Ed Levine's review on Slice - SeriousEats, HERE. 

Zuppardi's sausage is (according to Levine) house-made, and it was terrific. Not quite as good as the juicy chunks on a DeLorenzo tomato pie but superb and generously applied.

The sausage apizza

Both of the larger pies occupied that same classic old-school crust. Thin and crisp, but with excellent hole structure. It was not flat or cracker-like. The red sauce was tasty, but definitely a role player.

The cheese seemed to be traditional mozzarella ("mootz") and, for my tastes, there was a bit too much of it. It threw off the balance, weighed the pie down, and made it difficult for the crust to support each slice. Really a minor quibble, because this was delicious pizza, true in every way to the New Haven -- Trenton old-school style.

Heavy cheese, tip sag

Bacon on left, pepperoni on right

Gorgeous cornicione

The pepperoni half of the other pie was covered with good if unspectacular slices of cured meat. The bacon half was generously covered with bacon slices intelligently cut into bite-size chunks, but we all agreed that it was under-crisped. I enjoyed the bacon slices more when at home I re-heated the leftovers under the broiler to get that bacon sizzling.

Inventive at drinking, too!

Zuppardi's Apizza is unquestionably destination pizza. The conventional pies may have been just a hair short of Sally's and Pepe's (but just as good as Modern Apizza). But a timeless neighborhood pizza joint with pie this good and no waiting? Priceless. And the clam pie HAS to be on your bucket list. It was that good. 

Even the box is charmingly old-school

Review: Sally's Apizza, New Haven CT

When people talk about the legendary pies of New Haven, it usually comes down to Sally's and Frank Pepe's - both located on Wooster Street. Not too long ago, I set out to visit both. I was en route to Boston from West Chester PA, and to my dismay I learned that Sally's is not open at lunchtime. Hence, Pepe's alone was my introduction to New Haven style "apizza" (which, incidentally, is also labeled "Tomato Pie" at Pepe's).

In between, I had a chance to sample the pies at Modern Apizza (review HERE). But Sally's remained important on my list of "pizzas I have to try."

Recently, I had occasion to spend part of a weekend in Hamden (home to the lovely campus of Quinnipiac University), which is not far from New Haven. That opened up the chance to hit Sally's for dinner on Saturday, and then another regional specialist on Sunday. That other target was Zuppardi's, in nearby North Haven - reviewed HERE.

Sally's, 237 Wooster Street

Pepe's and Sally's each have their staunch defenders, and also some critics. At Pepe's, I found a huge space that somehow retained its old-school charm even as it had expanded over the years. And world-class pie, good enough to be served in Chambersburg, Trenton. Full review is HERE.

We feared long lines at Sally's on a Saturday, but our good fortune took us there on Mother's Day weekend. My sense is that, on this holiday, folks want to take mom out for "fancy" food and hence pizza - even world class New Haven apizza -- does not suffice. So we showed up at 7:30 pm and were seated immediately!

Much like Pepe's, Sally's had that old-school charm that would make it right at home in Trenton. It looked liked it had changed little in 50 years, and that may be pretty accurate.

We examined the menu and decided that we wanted to try two pies, knowing full well we couldn't finish that much. But I had prepared for the apizza weekend by bringing a cooler with ice packs, so leftover pie (having some tonight as I write this) is never a bad thing.

Sally's makes huge apizzas

We were fascinated by the potato-topped pizza, and opted for a "small" version of that specialty pie featuring potato, onion, rosemary, and Parmesan (no red sauce). It hardly fit my perception of "traditional" but we rectified that by choosing a tomato pie with mozzarella and pepperoni for our "medium" pie.

The potato apizza

We were seated close to the kitchen, so I was able to see a lot of pies before they were served. We discovered that the large pies were HUGE. They were not quite round, but rather elongated to fill the enormous trays in which they are served. One accommodating couple allowed us to snap a pic of their two tremendous pies. They were able to eat all of one and about a quarter of the other.

Our "small" potato pie was medium-sized, and our "medium" pepperoni pie would be perfectly fine as the large pie in most places. Both had terrific eye appeal and we dug in.

Pepperoni apizza

Let's talk first about the traditional red pie. The crust is always the key feature, and this one was terrific. Thin but not cracker-like, with a beautiful char and that old-school flavor. It shared much in common with the New Haven pie at Pepe's. Even though the toppings were modest, the crust was not sufficiently rigid to support the sauce and cheese on the pepperoni pie. I'm not deducting any points for that, however.

Tip sag, but no flavor sag

The sauce was a deep red, surely tasty but largely a role player here. Sally's showed restraint with the traditional mozzarella cheese, in a good way so that all the elements were in harmony and balance. The pepperoni was generously applied, but was sliced thinly and had no remarkable quality. It was the gestalt mojo working here; much like Totonno's in Coney Island (reviewed HERE), this was a "the sum is greater than the parts" pie.  The sauce, cheese, and meat were all complements to that wonderful crust.

Just a magnificent crust, top and bottom

Under the hood

The potato pie? Even better! Lacking red sauce, it was lighter in weight and less wet, so the crust remained rigid underneath. The thinly sliced potatoes melded wonderfully with the Parmesan cheese, and the wispy onions brought a savory flavor and aroma. The rosemary was subtle, and the total effect was magical. I don't go for gimmicky pies, but this non-traditional entry succeeded at every level. Texture, flavor, harmony.

As we ate this destination pie, I began thinking about where Sally's would land in my pizza rankings.  Top Ten stuff, for sure. But the more great pie I discover, the more I see the futility in trying to rank it. This pie will ultimately be recorded as "best in class" with pies I find similar, such as Pepe's and Staten Island's Denino's (reviewed HERE). 

Fresh out of the oven

For the record, the crust gets a 9.5, the sauce an 8.5, the cheese a 7, pepperoni a 7. The potato/onion/Parmesan combo gets a 10! Brilliant stuff that surprised and delighted us.

The Pizza Steel Transforms a Pizza Mix into a Trenton Tomato Pie

My experience as a pizza maker - pizzaiolo - falls far short of my experience as a pizza eater. But on this blog I've documented quite a few successful homemade pizza attempts (find them in the index on the right, each key link begins with "BAKING"). Technique matters, ingredients matter, and of course tools matter.

Click on any pic to enlarge

Most home pizza makers face the limitation of an oven that will reach temperatures of only 500 or 550 Fahrenheit. But there are tools and techniques to overcome that limitation. The "Baking Steel" is a quarter-inch thick slab of steel, big enough to hold one medium-large pie. In my experience, it is easily superior to baking pizza in a pan, and markedly better also than a pizza stone.

From www.SliceSeriourEats.com

Because I shun mass-produced commercial supplies for the pizzas I buy, I should have the same level of snobbery for the pies I make. But I have yet to develop serious dough skills, so I keep some shortcuts on hand, such as a frozen ball of dough from a Trenton bakery. And, for emergencies, a package of Betty Crocker pizza crust mix. Honestly, it makes a damn decent crust!

Such an emergency arose after a long day of spring gardening; I had neither the time nor the energy to craft a real pizza dough and wait for it to rise. The Betty Crocker mix says "add contents to half a cup of hot water, mix, let it stand for five minutes." Well, I tossed in a pinch of salt, a big pinch of sugar, and a splash of olive oil, and I let it rise about 90 minutes (in the oven, covered, with warmth provided by the oven light).

Out of the oven, before slicing

Meanwhile, the oven pre-heated to 550 with the Baking Steel on the center rack. I attempted to hand-toss the dough, but that resulted in a misshapen amoeba with gaping holes, so I re-formed the ball of dough are used a rolling pin to make an amoeba without holes. I know that the rolling pin punishes the dough so that it won't develop a light airy structure, but I felt I had no choice.

I topped the pie with some "fresh" mozzarella that had been in the freezer for several months, a can of stewed tomatoes from which I chopped the solid and reduced the liquid to a thick paste, and chopped soppressata.

I use a lot of conventional flour in handling the dough, but I coat the pizza peel with rice flour so that the pie will slide off easily. And, in fact, I usually have an almost-lost-the-whole-pie misadventure in transferring the pie from peel to Steel, but this time it was nearly perfectly smooth.

I keep reading that pies cook in 7-8 minutes on the Steel, but mine have take 9 or 10. Still, I set a timer for 7 minutes, and saw that it was done about a minute later. After a moment for cooling, I cut it into some odd slices that were party DeLorenzo style square end cuts and a little bit of "party cut" with some center squares lacking a cornicione.

One nice bubble

How'd I do? The crust was brilliantly crisped and charred on the bottom, bar-pie thin, but still with a nice chew. The fresh mozz lost nothing in the freezer, and tasted wonderful with the unadulterated tomatoes. The soppressata added the savory and salty element. The pie was perfect in its moisture level. It was a lovely cross of a DeLorenzo tomato pie and a Lee's Tavern bar pie.

One area with good airy structure

The crust gets a 9! It had an occasional bubble or air pocket structure - but I hope to do better. Tomatoes a 9, cheese an 8, soppressata a 9. All told, this pie rocks a solid 9. Simple, and mostly inexpensive ingredients. If you're a home pie maker, the Baking Steel is worth the investment.