I grew up eating slices of "extra cheese" pies from what we called "Rosie's" but was actually "Rose's" in Riverside, NJ. It was a classic Trenton-style tomato pie. A thin, crisp-yet-chewy crust that set up the pie for success no matter the choice of toppings. The pie that most resembles Rose's is Patsy's, in East Harlem, NY. That pie comes from a coal oven, whereas Rosa's was made in a conventional gas oven.
We also ate a lot of "New York style" pie from nearby Angelo's in Riverside. Their pie is more like today's typical storefront pizza joint - soft doughy crust, sweet sauce, and cheese that oozed an orange oil you could mop up with your napkin. Greasy, salty, tasty, but much inferior to the Trenton-style pie. Angelo's is still there, decades later!
 |
| Click to enlarge |
After
Rose's folded, mid 70s, I spent a decade in pizza purgatory. I gave up on ever
eating transcendental pie again. DeLorenzo's in Trenton held me over until I
began to explore further. Now there is plenty of great pizza (yet still
boatloads of bad pizza). Thanks to Rose's, I know the difference.
A
while back, the Rose's location re-opened as "Arnieri's" pizza. Some
locals say it tastes like the old Rose's. It remains on my Jersey pizza to-do list is go back and see if I can re-capture the magic of the place that sparked my pizza obsession.
 |
| From Foursquare; looks good! |
