Frank Pepe's Pizza, Wooster Street, New Haven, CT.

If I accomplished nothing else in 2009 (debatable...), I can honestly say that I had the best pizza of my life. It knocked Santarpio's of Boston off the top spot...not an easy task. Lombardi's in New York's Little Italy rounds out the top 3. I'm still reserving judgment on Pizzeria Regina, because I went to the Quincy Market location...which was terrific, but I'd like to go to Thacher Street to get the full experience...Turns out that New Haven is a Pizza Mecca of sorts, with Pepe's, and Sally's Apizza about a block away on Wooster Street (New Haven's answer to Little Italy).

Anyway...Frank Pepe....Holy crap.

The star attraction at Pepe's is the clam pie....preferably WITHOUT cheese. In fact, cheese is usually considered an extra ingredient in these parts. I'm a bit of a minimalist pizza-wise, but forgoing cheese (honestly one of the only reasons I get out of bed each day)?...impossible.


I opted for the clam pie WITH mozzarella (pronounced 'mootz' if you want to sound like a local...or sound like a douchebag trying to sound like a local, in my case). Unbefrigginglievable. Fresh clams, a nice garlic flavour, just enough gooey cheese, on top of a charred, thin, oddly-shaped crust.

I've tried duplicating it at home, but no-go, mofo. The clams at Pepe's are super-fresh, and Pepe's coal oven, which has been there since the twenties, hits a temperature that could probably torch my entire neighbourhood.

Of course, upon returning from NYC a few days later, a return visit was necessary. We made it to Pepe's at 11:20, ten minutes before opening. Steve staked out a place in line (first! Making up for the Daily Show debacle a few days earlier), while I went back to the car to study the map. About five minutes later, I looked up to see a throng of cars screaming into the lot, and folks getting into line, waiting for Pepe's to open.

This time I had the tomato and mozzarella pie...nice, but the clam pie was once again the way to go.