Our pizza is not just the best; it’s about amore

Much to the outrage and dismay of countless Nutmeggers this week, Food & Wine magazine had the audacity to declare New Jersey’s pizza is better than Connecticut’s.

This time it is personal. And revenge is a dish best served coal-fired.

Ask anyone from Connecticut and they will tell you that Connecticut pizza, or “apizza” as we call it, is hands down, no contest, the best pizza in America.

Sure, other states might boast the first and oldest pizzerias (though here in the Land of Steady Habits we would fiercely debate that). Others might have the hottest, trendiest pizza scene. But I am not going to argue whose pizza is the oldest or whose pizza is the trendiest. I am dropping the hammer on this incessant debate and hereby declaring Connecticut pizza the best pizza in the country. Gavel out.

You can find great pizza across Connecticut — you have seen “Mystic Pizza,” right? — though I am, of course, partial to New Haven pizza. My love for New Haven pizza is not just about good, quality, Italian food. It is also about family and the Italian American Wooster Square neighborhood where I was raised.

The history of pizza in Wooster Square dates back to the early 1900s, when Frank Pepe, an Italian American immigrant, first put crushed tomatoes on top of old bakeshop bread. The creation was so popular that he opened Frank Pepe’s Pizzeria Napoletana in 1925. Frank and his wife, Filomena, could have only dreamed of the success their small business has come to be. Four generations later, the business is still run by family, and the walls are still adorned with family photos. Their pizza is legendary, and the ambiance is unforgettable.

However, it is not just the pizza that makes Pepe’s such a special part of our community. It is the history and community spirit of Frank Pepe and his family that have made it a New Haven landmark. In fact, Pepe’s has even inspired other pizza entrepreneurs, the first of which was Frank’s nephew Salvatore “Sally” Consiglio, who opened his own restaurant, Sally’s, just steps from his uncle’s restaurant.

Sally Consiglio and his wife, Flora “Flo” Consiglio, were consummate figures throughout my childhood. Mother Luisa played basketball with Sal when they were children. I cannot remember a time when Flo and Sal were not a part of my life. They were more than dear friends, they were part of the family. And their pizza was a family staple.

And that is what New Haven pizza is really all about: family. In New Haven, our pizzerias are primarily family founded, family owned, small businesses, sustained through the blood, sweat and tears of our sisters, brothers, friends and neighbors. Pizza in New Haven is not just a celebration of small businesses or of our nation’s thriving Italian American immigrant heritage. It is a celebration of our New Haven identity centered on family, community and love.

From Napoli Pizza in Wallingford and Modern and Abate in New Haven to Grand Apizza in Fair Haven and North Haven and Zuppardi’s in West Haven, pizza is the heart and soul of our New Haven community — and our New Haven community is the heart and soul of American pizza.

But do not just take my word for it. People come from far and wide to taste Connecticut’s pizza. When John F. Kennedy was campaigning for president, he visited Sally’s in 1959, and his nephew, Ted Kennedy Jr., is reportedly a regular customer still today. Celebrities such as Bill Murray, Meryl Streep and Matthew Broderick are just some of the many stars who have dined at Pepe’s. Frank Sinatra is said to have had Sally’s pizza delivered to him whenever he performed in New York.

I have no doubt that while at Yale Law School, both former President and Secretary of State Bill and Hillary Clinton found their favorite apizza. Bill stopped at Pepe’s in 2016. In fact, I once sent several pies to Air Force One when President Clinton was in Connecticut. My mother, Luisa, welcomed him to Abate’s and Sally’s during his personal stop on Wooster Street on a later trip to New Haven.

And because of this recent affront to the reputation of Connecticut pizza, I will be sending New Haven pizza to President Biden, and I will be counting on his support to definitively declare Connecticut pizza the best pizza in America.

So, say what you will about New Jersey or New York or Chicago pizza. For those who have had the privilege of experiencing New Haven pizza, I think we can all agree Connecticut’s pizza is without compare.