Italians know great pizza and great pizza is made in New York Connecticut. What?!

Yes, that was my reaction when I was driving through Connecticut and hear “OMG, we are near Frank Pepe! They have THE BEST pizza!” I was more than skeptical. I have been told plenty of times about “great pizza” places and have been let down multiples times at first bite.  The Italian in me was more than ready to put “THE BEST pizza” claim to the test… even though we had just eaten an hour earlier.

As I heard more about this place I became more skeptical. Why? Because the star of this pizzeria is a white pizza with clams… Who puts clams on pizza?! When we arrived there was a line of people outside waiting to get in. We waited for about 20-30 minutes for a table. The longer I waited the more critical I knew I was going to be.

We ordered the infamous white clam pizza and another pizza, half fresh tomato and half original with mozzarella. When the pizza came out the pies are cut into 16 slices and are all different sizes.  At first I thought it was all wrong, but I soon realized it was the best idea ever. It made it easier to taste test each without getting too full and as you near the border of Glutton you start choosing the smaller slices.

The Original w/ Mozzarella: It was good, but nothing to write home about (or travel 1.5 hours to eat). The sauce wasn’t my favorite, but everyone has their own preference when it comes to sauce.

The Fresh Tomato: This was delicious! The tomatoes were nice and ripe… but not too ripe.  It tasted like they picked the tomatoes from Nonna’s (Grandma’s) backyard just for us. Tomato, basil and cheese…. heavenly. As good as it was I couldn’t see myself driving back for pizza.

The White Clam Pizza: I cautiously went to take my first bite… the amazing smell of this pizza hit me first.  The clams were cooked to perfections… not gummy… just perfect. As I understand it, they are fresh clams… not the canned clams. Before this moment I could never have pictured clam pizza… now? I can’t believe I had never had this pizza.

Related articles

• Clam, Bacon and Onion Pizza (illhavesecondsblog.wordpress.com)
• Pizza with Clams (pizzaandmore.wordpress.com)
• Pizza with Fresh Clams, Garlic, Mozzarella, Romano, and Basil (slice.seriouseats.com)