Stories like this are difficult to tell. I'm not only struggling with where to start but also with figuring out "what's my point"? Is this about me and my journey? Or, is this about the destination and those who are there? If I jump right in will you be able to follow or do I need to "set-it-up"?
Like I've said before, it's not easy being me..... Fuck it, let's roll!
We're on our annual summer east coast vacation and I realize that we'll be rolling right through the birthplace of one of my favorite styles of pizza, "New Haven". Yes, Connecticut, yes pizza, and yes they are famous for it, even though you've probably never heard of it....
What the F is this you ask? and many do and have... The easy explanation is that it's like a rustic New York pie. The ingredients of the crust are similar; thin, a little chewy, a nice pull to it, but it's not perfectly round, and has minimal cheese, and is cooked, generally, in a coal fired oven giving the outer crust ring blisters and chars from the inconsistent temperature zones in the oven. It might look burnt to some. It might look awesome to others (me).
In San Diego you can find this style of pie at Urbn in North Park, or in Portland at Apizza Scholls, see link below. For more info on WTF Apizza is and the New Haven style, check the interweb, I don't have time to educate you further on this stuff.
Back to me
I can't just roll into this town and pop into any old place, it wouldn't be prudent. So, I begin the search, and re-search, and investigate, and obsess, which turns into anticipation, which ultimately creates expectations and excitement and more anticipation. Then fear strikes. Will the place I choose live up to the (my) hype? Will the people I see be the actual people I've seen Will I've seen on TV, Youtube, Viceland, etc.?
I can only hope.
Zuppardi's is the choice (it's actually in West Haven, but the style is still New Haven).
It's situated in an average looking neighborhood, surrounded by average looking homes.
As we enter we are greeted by a frowned faced host that stares blankly past us. We enter a bit further and glance around noting the counter where you order and also a minimalist dining room with 10 tables or so. Do we order and sit, or sit and then order? Will the the low faced, downtrodden host with the sorrowful essence that has wrapped me in a blanket of worry and concern offer any help whatsoever?
No
I ask, "how does this work?!?!?" "you wanna eat here, grab a table and we'll come take your order".
Geez
Let's just move on, I think you get the point.
This place is known for their house made fennel sausage and clam pie (separate things, FYI). So we order them, and a caesar salad each and a carafe of the house red.
No, this is not grape juice to go along with the Graduates for the little one, this is the house red and thankfully it wasn't terrible, not great, but for the price it was drinkable.
Basic, but at least it wasn't terrible. There was an off putting sourness to it that I couldn't put my finger on. I shook it off and downed the bowl (probably not the brightest move but meh).
The sausage pie was actually the "original" which consists of sausage and mushrooms. It's called the original because the old dude that opened this place in 1934 put it on the menu then, and it's still a big seller. An obvious "must order" for us.
The appearance of the crust is deceiving. It looks hard and thick but it actually has a very thin crispy shell and is light and fluffy inside. I honestly liked it a bit.
The sausage was as advertised, delicious with a strong but not overpowering fennel flavor, but enough to let you know it's there.
And then this happened.....
Canned mushrooms
I know that grandpa used to do it that way and we want to stay "authentic", but holy mother of jesus, in 1934 you probably couldn't get fresh mushrooms in West Haven (or he couldn't afford them) so he used canned, which in today's world equals terrible, and they were.
Come on Zup, roll with the times!!!!!
Solid crust though, at least there was that.
Clam pie, sold at market price, which for this medium was $32....
We were suggested to order half cheese (the standard pie doesn't have it) because, as we've never had the clam pie, the flavor can be improved with cheese.... so we did (and thank god we did...)
I now know that I don't like clams on pizza.
Blech
The clams weren't bad or old or spoiled, it's just that the flavor of clams doesn't (to me-us) go with a pizza, at all. With the cheese it was tolerable, without it you can have all of mine....
Gross
Those of you that know me know that I love this. However, to continue the negativity, they had it on the cheese shaker and not the crushed pepper shaker. sad.
Good things babies don't know good food yet, they'll eat anything.
When passing through Connecticut there's no need to stop, or even slow down, for pizza. Just floor it and get some chinese food when you reach the NYC. Right Spence-O?
DVA
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