Aiman grew up in and around the New Haven area but he has never been to Frank Pepe’s before. He and his siblings have eaten the pizzas from there during their educational programs at Yale University. They’ve been discouraged from going to the restaurant because everyone was saying the queuing lines were always long.
But this time, they had to go. That’s because his oldest sister Amira brought her friend Teddy from San Francisco, California to visit. And who would visit New Haven without dining at the world’s famous Frank Pepe’s? Besides, Tedyy is originally from Chicago which is known for its deep dish pizzas. He wanted to see how good the thin crust pizzas versus the deep dish pizzas.
Even though it was a Saturday and the weekend, fortunately it was during the summer vacation and most of the Yale students and faculties went back home. Therefor the line wasn’t as long as they have feared. It only took them about 30 minutes queuing in line outside before there was a table for 7, including both of his parents, his brother Fikri & Hizami, was available. They didn’t mind the wait, because apparently Teddy was also good in math.
Once we have proceeded through the door, the delightful aroma filled the air will make you drool. We were seated near the entrance, but there was another larger room but even that room was completely filled. Evidently Teddy had done research on Frank Pepe’s and shared the information with Aiman, who then tried to explain the history of this famous pizzeria. If the noise is too loud and you can’t hear what Aiman was saying in the video, scroll down below to read more about the origin of Pepe’s pizza.
This is Episode 1 of this vlog series. To find out what we ordered, how the pizza looks and tasted like, and how much they cost, click below for:
Episode 2:
Episode 3:
Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana, commonly known as Pepe’s /หpษpiz/, is a popular pizza restaurant in the Wooster Square neighborhood of New Haven, Connecticut, at 163 Wooster Street. Opened in 1925, it is one of the oldest and best known pizzerias in the United States.
Pepe’s was founded in 1925 by Frank Pepe (April 15, 1893 โ September 6, 1969), an Italian immigrant. Pepe was born in Maiori, Italy, and immigrated to New Haven in 1909 when he was a teenager. The quintessential Wooster Square Italian immigrant took a job at a New Haven factory, but wasn’t fond of continuing there. During World War I, Pepe went back to Italy to fight for his native country. Upon returning, he soon landed a job working at a bakery on Wooster Street. Pepe began walking through the Wooster Square market and sold his “tomato pies” off of a special headdress. After saving enough money, he was able to buy a wagon from which he sold his pizzas. He was so successful that he was eventually able to take over his employer’s business and turn it into the first “Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana” on June 16, 1925. Frank Pepe died on September 6, 1969.
Pepe’s originated the New Haven-style thin-crust apizza (closely related to Neapolitan-style Italian pizza) which he baked in a coal-fired brick pizza oven. Originally, Frank Pepe only made two varieties of pizza: the “tomato pie” (tomatoes with grated pecorino romano cheese, garlic, oregano, and olive oil) and the other with the addition of anchovy.
Pepe moved his restaurant to its current location next door to The Spot in 1936. The Pepe family later bought back The Spot from the Boccamiello family in 1981 and it now serves the same menu as the newer restaurant.
In the alleyway between The Spot and Pepe’s, Boccamiello’s nephew Bear would open clams and sell them on the half shell to passersby. Pepe’s restaurant began serving 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. The white clam pie is just crust, olive oil, oregano, grated cheese, chopped garlic, and fresh littleneck clams. The restaurant will serve the pizza with or without mozzarella cheese, but they try to discourage customers from ordering it with mozzarella because they feel that it makes the pizza too heavy and rich. They are also adamant on using freshly shucked clams as opposed to canned clams; if fresh clams are not available then they will not serve the white clam pie. Three men are employed by Pepe’s just for shucking the clams on location. Since its invention, the white clam pie has become the signature pizza of pizzerias in New Haven.
To find out reviews of Frank Pepe’s click on Yelp or TripAdvisor here:
This vlog was brought to you by Aiman Imran Zulhilmi Anuar.
Recording Date: July 20, 2019
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