Pepe's Pizza (New Haven, CT)

[Steve]

Has anyone eaten at Pepe's Pizza in New Haven, CT?

I'm planning a road trip to visit a friend in Connecticut and was thinking about making the 45-minute drive to New Haven for some pizza.

[toto]

Gotta do it!!!! Awesome!

[thatbrian]

Steve,

Pepe's is pretty good some would say excelent.  I would give it an 8.5 myself, I've been there about a dozen times.  If you like paperthin crust and are anywhere near Stamford, CT when you visit you have to try Colony Grill pizza.  I have been going there since I was knee high to a grasshopper and I think there is none better that I have tasted.

Have a good trip

[Randy]

Take some picture.
 

[svapne]

Been going there since I was born ( at Yale New Haven none the less )...

Every time I'm in CT I visit Pepe's and I have found no equal anywhere.

I also enjoy Zuppardi's Apizza in West Haven.

Started making pizza at home about 3 months ago and Pepe's has been my inspiration and my goal...

Highly recommended..
http://www.binaryrevelations.com/wsd/images/pepe.jpg

[Steve]

svapne, you say that you started making pizza at home and that Pepe's has been your inspiration.

Do you have a recipe that's similar to Pepe's?

[svapne]

I wish...  

I just don't think 3 months has been enough time, but it has been a fun and tasty time.

I have gone and watched them make pies there and gleened a few tips but nothing I have not seen posted here. I am really still just learning the basics, but I have already been told by people who have tasted my "experiments" that it is some of the best pizza they have tasted in the area.. Which is not really saying that much, since we really only have Papa Ginos and the occational town pizza place. Nothing like the great NY or NH pizza places; not really even the same food. But I am getting there.

BTW just let me say how great this site is. I wish I had found it earlier when I started making pizza; it's a great community and have been reading constantly since I found it...

When I do finally come up with what I think is a resonable homage to Pepe's I will post it here. I really need to start a pizza diary and keep track of the changes I make and what works and does not work.

I had found this link the other day that talks about Pepe's pizza and some of the ingredients and techniques used in making it;

http://www.pmq.com/hotwheels.shtml

 -Scott

[andylipp]

I’ve been trying to emulate a Pepe’s pie at home for 20 years.  Every year I get a bit closer.  My buddy and I used to go there on Saturday afternoons and just stare at the pizza makers hoping to pick up tips for our own homemade pizza ventures.

We also used to try to pry secrets out of the manager/pizzamaker from time to time, with limited success.  Here are a few tips we picked up that might be helpful.

Sauce:  Sclafani San Marzano tomatoes and salt.  That’s it. (can’t swear they don’t switch brands occasionally)

Flour: He recommended Gold Medal “Better for Bread” flour as being the closest consumer flour to the commercial stuff he used. Very high moisture content to the dough. Pepe’s standard dough rise time is 8 hours. Also, they never roll the dough; only press it out by hand. Rolling or stretching is said to negatively affect the crumb structure.

Oven Temp:  600F.  Their coal-fired oven is a wonder to behold.

We could never get him to tell us what brand of mozz they used, but I suspect it was local (I know Calabro cheese is distributed from New Haven, and have had good success with it).  Cheese is always sliced, never shredded.

I’ve also been told, and it stands to reason, that the New Haven water is particularly well suited for pizza dough.  That would explain the existence of 3 world-class pizzas on one street (Pepe’s, Sally’s and the Spot).

[svapne]

Oh.. and don't forget about Zuppardi's in West Haven either  

BTW if you look on the Calabro site:

http://www.calabrocheese.com/

On the product page is says this:

'Whole Milk, Part Skim Mozzarella
Our Mozzarella is soft and elastic in texture and creamy white in color. It bakes consistently to perfect stringiness and has become a standard not only on the dairy shelves, but in the institutional markets as well. Frank J. Pepe's Pizza of New Haven, where the pizza originated, uses exclusively our Mozzarella.'

Up here in MA, most Whole Foods ( http://www.wholefoods.com/ ) markets carry the whole line of calabro cheese.

I have spent a lot of time too watching them make their pies. Seems amazingly simple until you try to do it.. I am slowly putting together a recipe that I will post as soon as I am moderately satisfied; I'm not going to fool myself into believing I will acually get all the way there, but I'd be satisfied with something close  .

For a few insider tips, check out this article:

http://www.pmq.com/hotwheels.shtml

I'd love to trade tips with you, although I'm afraid if I actually come close I may never leave the house.. Pepe's has to be my favorite food and I always feel like a kid again going back there maybe that is part of the magic.

-Scott

[andylipp]

Scott.

Thanks for clarifying the Calabro/Pepe's thing for me.

Have you tried Randy's Wooster Street Pizza? Personally, I'm underwhelmed by his Pepe's "homage" as it is described in the article you linked.

[svapne]

I have not tried it yet.. Too bad it sounds like it falls short from what you say, but then again I'm sure he is making a pizza the way he wants instead of a exact duplicate.. All the more reason to keep trying at home  

-Scott

[Pizzacko]

Hey.....i have a question to ask. How do you pronounce Pepe, "Peep" or "Peepee" . Just a question.

[Steve]

Hey.....i have a question to ask. How do you pronounce Pepe, "Peep" or "Peepee" . Just a question.

I am pretty sure it's pronounced "Peh-Pees"

[old6537]

Just out of curiosity, Steve started this string almost one year ago. Did you ever make it to Pepe's and how was it ?

[Steve]

Just out of curiosity, Steve started this string almost one year ago. Did you ever make it to Pepe's and how was it ?

Unfortunately, I did not get to visit Connecticut. My friend ended up moving shortly after I started the thread.  

[svapne]

Next time I go down to Pepe's I should foodsave some and ship it  

-Scott

[Philo]

The way it sounds I think I'd be happy with a pizza that's half as good as Pepe's.  It's slim pickins where I'm at in a small town in N. Minnesota. 


A friend of mine is opening a family amusement center and billiards, kind of like a huge chuckee cheese but not so cheesy.  In a round about way I aquired some restraunt equipment and pizza ovens and am putting it in this new place.  The place I got the equipment from had decent pizza for this area, but nothing even close
to Pepe's.

I wish there was a pizza making recipe just somewhat close to Pepe's.  The pizza eating people of the town would probably think it was the best thing since sliced bread. 

[PizzaBrewer]

Philo:  Where in MN and when do you plan to open?

---Guy

[varasano]

Pepe's is good. Sally's next door is better.

andylipp, the water thing is largely a myth, as you will see if you hang out on this site long enough. Any good bottled or filtered water is just fine.  There are a lot of other factors that are much more important. That block has 3 good places because of the traditions that are found there.  I too have been trying for years to make the right pie. This site is a wealth of information, but you have to wade through a lot of myth too.  Click the globe under my name for some of my photos and theory behind all this.

Jeff

[Philo]

Guy,

   Grand Rapids.  Planning on mid June.  Researching to find the best pizza.