Tuesday, June 4, 2013
Today, the question was: would we drive an hour and a half for good pizza? The idea reminded me of a cigarette advertisement from my youth, I’d Walk a Mile for a Camel. Of course, we would drive 80 miles for a good ‘tomato pie’. My husband, I like to call him Bullwinkle, read that Frank Pepe’s made one of the best pizzas in the country and was located in New Haven, Connecticut. We had already sampled and enjoyed their pizza at the satellite shops owned by the same family, which were located in Yonkers, NY and Danbury, CT.
The Original Frank Pepe’s
We wanted to take a journey to the Holy Grail of pizza, the Original Frank Pepe’s Pizzeria Napoletana, est. 1925, which was located 79.8 miles from our house. Fortified with maps and a GPS, as well as strong coffee, we set out on our pilgrimage to the Mecca of ‘Italian tomato pies’ in New Haven. I have to admit it was an uneventful drive, although we took a scenic route, and we reached our destination just in time for lunch.
The Holy Grail of Pizza
The pizzeria was located in a pleasant neighborhood of renovated New England brick structures from the late 1800s. We passed several other pizzerias on the same street as Frank Pepe’s and we made note to return some day to sample the competition. But today, we were undaunted in our pursuit of The Best. We parked and entered the shop reverently.
Interior of the Original Pizzeria
“Sit anywhere,” someone shouted from the back where the famous coal-fired oven was located, so we humbly grabbed the first empty booth. The waitress greeted us and took our soft drink order of locally manufactured soda. As purists, we ordered the ‘Original Tomato Pie with Mozzarella’ with no other adornments or flavors to mask the subtle taste of Frank Pepe’s tomato sauce and special cheese.
Foxon Park Soft Drinks Since 1922
I’m not sure if I would categorize the experience as a Nirvana moment, but the pizza was good. It had tasty tomato sauce and gooey cheese artfully placed on a very well done flavorful crust. Sorry, no photos!
New Haven, Ct. – Overlooking Yale University
New Haven, Connecticut is also the home of Yale University and, of particular interest to us, their famous Art Gallery. We wanted to visit the museum after our tomato pies and it was a short drive to the center of the city. Once inside, (free admission, by the way) I asked for a map and we turned toward what looked like a medieval church.
Filtered Light on Ancient Statue
At the door, a friendly guard greeted us, “Welcome to the gallery. Have you been here since the renovation?” When we told him this was our first visit, he smiled broadly and said, “Well, you’re in for a real treat! Welcome.”
Indo-Pacific Art
The Gallery was a wonderful museum with a vast and impressive collection of art through the ages and from around the world. Each room held a surprise in time and place.
Sol le Witt Again
We began the journey with ancient European art and worked our way through time and ended in modern art. The collection is stunning because curators have obtained excellent representative pieces of art from around the world.
Exterior Detail
We were surprised by the breath and depth of the collection at the gallery. It was inspiring. I thought how fortunate the students at Yale University were to have such a world-class museum on their campus. We added the Art Gallery to our list of favorite museums and planned to return soon. Yes, I’d drive 80 miles for another visit to the Yale University Art Gallery, I’m not so sure about the pizza.
Times Square Billboard 1940s
Note: I found this photo of the Camel billboard on Broadway just north of 42nd Street. As a child, I remember staring at it and wondering how the sign was able to puff out perfect rings of smoke. It grabbed my attention and probably lodged in the minds of smokers for years. Of course, this was long before Times Square became the tourist mecca it is today.