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Dear Slice: 'Heading to NYC, and Pepe's in New Haven'
Interesting. I actually LOVE the insanely tough crusts at Pepe's -- they bring new meaning to the word chewy, one time my jar started to hurt on my second slice. I have been dying to try Sally's, just haven't been able to put in the time yet. This review will probably motivate me to plan around it next time.
Making Cheap Hard Cider From Scratch
Hey Robyn, I know you don't. True cider, which was once the most traditional American drink, is coming back, but prohibition basically wiped it out of our collective consciousness.
I'll keep an eye out for good articles (I realize the site I linked to is way too thorough for the standard curious citizen) but I will reiterate a 2 key points from my previous post:
1) The juice is the key. Mass market, pasteurized cider is very sweet, and probably not much else. A good juice blend needs a balance of high sugar with some balanced acid, aromatics and (most elusive, given our modern apples) tannin. Raw juice is best, but UV-treated is a lot better than fully pasteurized. Heat robs the juice of its more subtle aromas. A typical home fermenter would be well served to buy their juice directly from a local orchard -- hard in NYC but easy in much of the country. If you know of an orchard that grows older variety apples, go with them. Their juice is more likely to have some moderately tannic apples, complexly flavored apples. It's possible that they will be willing to fill up a carboy or other fermenter directly, at a lower cost, and maybe even raw, before they treat it. Late season juice (like RIGHT NOW) is best for fermenting.
2) Ferment slow and cold, and be patient. You can start it warm to make sure it builds up a good vigorous initial fermentation, but then move it somewhere nice and cool, like a cellar (50 degrees is great). If it's not dark, wrap the carboy up so that light can't get in. Leave it be until the fermentation has completely stopped -- this may take upwards of two months. Then rack it (that means transferring it to another, clean carboy), leaving behind the sediment that should have fallen out. Fit the new carboy with an airlock, and continue to be patient. I wouldn't bottle it until at least 4 months. Last year I waited about 6.
But seriously, thank you for encouraging people to make their own cider! It's very easy and delicious.
Making Cheap Hard Cider From Scratch
Hey Robyn, I'm a little bummed to see that once again you've posted a "quick easy" cider recipe. As I wrote a few months back, (http://www.seriouseats.com/2009/06/how-to-make-apple-cider.html) it’s great that folks are starting to ferment cider themselves, and it will be a lot better than the super-sweet Woodchuck-type “cider.” But there’s a real art to cidermaking, which is really a lot more like winemaking than most folks realize. You won’t get a great cider out of a quick, 3-4 week fermentation. It’ll work and get you buzzed, but starting with quality (ideally raw) juice and taking it slow will be a lot more rewarding in the long run.
I won't bother to recap my previous post, folks can click through to check it out if they like. I will, however, offer this link to Andrew Lea’s cidermaking page for those who are intrigued enough: http://www.cider.org.uk/.
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What Is Ice Cider?
Slyboro Cider in Upstate NY makes a very nice ice cider. http://www.slyboro.com/. Their website says they will be at the New Amsterdam Market this weekend in NYC.
Dear Slice: 'Heading to NYC, and Pepe's in New Haven'
Interesting. I actually LOVE the insanely tough crusts at Pepe's -- they bring new meaning to the word chewy, one time my jar started to hurt on my second slice. I have been dying to try Sally's, just haven't been able to put in the time yet. This review will probably motivate me to plan around it next time.
Making Cheap Hard Cider From Scratch
Hey Robyn, I know you don't. True cider, which was once the most traditional American drink, is coming back, but prohibition basically wiped it out of our collective consciousness.
I'll keep an eye out for good articles (I realize the site I linked to is way too thorough for the standard curious citizen) but I will reiterate a 2 key points from my previous post:
1) The juice is the key. Mass market, pasteurized cider is very sweet, and probably not much else. A good juice blend needs a balance of high sugar with some balanced acid, aromatics and (most elusive, given our modern apples) tannin. Raw juice is best, but UV-treated is a lot better than fully pasteurized. Heat robs the juice of its more subtle aromas. A typical home fermenter would be well served to buy their juice directly from a local orchard -- hard in NYC but easy in much of the country. If you know of an orchard that grows older variety apples, go with them. Their juice is more likely to have some moderately tannic apples, complexly flavored apples. It's possible that they will be willing to fill up a carboy or other fermenter directly, at a lower cost, and maybe even raw, before they treat it. Late season juice (like RIGHT NOW) is best for fermenting.
2) Ferment slow and cold, and be patient. You can start it warm to make sure it builds up a good vigorous initial fermentation, but then move it somewhere nice and cool, like a cellar (50 degrees is great). If it's not dark, wrap the carboy up so that light can't get in. Leave it be until the fermentation has completely stopped -- this may take upwards of two months. Then rack it (that means transferring it to another, clean carboy), leaving behind the sediment that should have fallen out. Fit the new carboy with an airlock, and continue to be patient. I wouldn't bottle it until at least 4 months. Last year I waited about 6.
But seriously, thank you for encouraging people to make their own cider! It's very easy and delicious.
Making Cheap Hard Cider From Scratch
Hey Robyn, I'm a little bummed to see that once again you've posted a "quick easy" cider recipe. As I wrote a few months back, (http://www.seriouseats.com/2009/06/how-to-make-apple-cider.html) it’s great that folks are starting to ferment cider themselves, and it will be a lot better than the super-sweet Woodchuck-type “cider.” But there’s a real art to cidermaking, which is really a lot more like winemaking than most folks realize. You won’t get a great cider out of a quick, 3-4 week fermentation. It’ll work and get you buzzed, but starting with quality (ideally raw) juice and taking it slow will be a lot more rewarding in the long run.
I won't bother to recap my previous post, folks can click through to check it out if they like. I will, however, offer this link to Andrew Lea’s cidermaking page for those who are intrigued enough: http://www.cider.org.uk/.
Will you miss Gourmet magazine?
I will miss it terribly.
What Gourmet has been doing really well lately is thoughtful, interesting and literate articles about food, drink, food politics, culture, traditions, and more. As I see it, Saveur has been busy getting glossier and leaving behind the niche it had staked out as a chronicler of real food traditions. It landed in a more middle-of-the-road territory with more puff pieces, recipes, and product spotlights. In the meantime, Gourmet sort of crept in and grabbed some of the audience that Saveur left unattended, and did it well.
That said, at some level I see your point re: Slad & Deter. (But what kind of name is Slad?) But I don't, personally, read food magazines for the recipes/menu plans/photo spreads. I don't cook that way at all, and although that food porn occasionally inspires my cooking, I would prefer to see that aspect minimized.
Schnitzel Burger from Schnitzel and Things Truck
Whoa that actually does look really good, and it's not the kind of thing I'd be inclined to go for either. Just... got.. hungry...
Celery Greens
In my experience, at least in the Northeast, I've never seen a small farmer produce the kind of big, juicy celery stalks that commercial growers produce. The celery is darker, tougher, and much more intensely flavored. I suspect it is more like "cutting celery," a different variety of the plant. For people (like myself) who love the flavor of celery, it's very cool stuff, and I too find it works well as a flavoring element. If you're going to use it in soup or stock, use less (by volume) than you would commercial celery--remember, it's going to impart all of that intense flavor. Basically, think of it more like an herb than a vegetable, and you'll be on your way to success.
Gran Gusto in Cambridge, Mass.: As Neapolitan As It Gets
Kenji, as an admirer of your work here and at GoodEater, I'd be pleased to break cornicione with you. I've been to Gran Gusto once before and left on the fence, so I'm down for a second round. I found your email address over at GoodEater, I'll hit you up shortly.
Sicilian Slice Crawl in Boston
Thanks for this round-up folks. As a recent Boston transplant I was unaware of the emphasis on square slices until this report. I had been meaning to hit Umberto but I didn't realize it was a regional slant. This is good news, given the general mediocrity of round pies in this city (a few notables excepted).
Stopped into Pinocchios this weekend and it was, indeed, quite good. Just needed a moment more in the oven. If it's inconsistent, I got it on a pretty good day.
Do Biodegradable Spoons Ruin the Ice Cream Experience?
Well, there's nothing that makes a disposable spoon, even one made of corn starch, "greener" than a reusable metal spoon, so you've set up a false choice in the first part of this blog post. I wish more casual food service establishments would offer real, reusable vessels and utensils, but often they'd rather avoid the work of cleaning them.
The 'Pizza Strip': Indigenous to Rhode Island
Adam, is this inspired at all by my comment about pizza strips in the Bob & Timmy's post? Come on, let me feel special!
As for your critique: First off, if I'm not mistaken the classic neapolitan Marinara has no cheese, right? And neither does the most traditional New Haven apizza! Secondly, if you really won't accept it as a pizza style without cheese, occasionally the pizza strips have a light dusting of grated cheese (probably some kind of romano or cheap parmesan). And finally, I can foresee further critiques that this is really more akin to a focaccia, but isn't that also true of Roman pizza bianca?
Basically, if I am forced to admit that Chicago deep dish is "pizza," then I think the rest of the world needs to acknowledge the pizza-ness of the RI pizza strip. No?
Bob & Timmy's Is the Fifth Best Pizzeria in the U.S.?
I'll add to the chorus and say that, despite living in Providence for many years, I never understood the Bob and Timmy's thing. Richman's article made me consider trying it once more, but Ed's experience lines up with mine.
And while grilled pizza is good, and fun to made at home, I think it's more interesting focus on the TRUE regional pizza specialty of RI, the Pizza Strip (aka bakery pizza). Mmmmm.... greasy pizza strips....
Dear AHT: 'Help! I'm Allergic to Beef"
Bryan, I HAVE read about something like this, because my girlfriend feels quite ill only when she eats beef that is not completely cooked. Beef stew -- fine. Medium-rare burger -- she gets sick.
If you have similar reactions (you didn't mention doneness being a factor, but if you love burgers maybe you always eat them fairly pink), then you may have the same allergy. It's actually an allergy to BSA, a protein in cows' blood that is rendered harmless by fully cooking. Chow ran a good piece on it here:
http://www.chow.com/stories/11307
If you suffer from BSA allergy, of course, it's a mixed blessing. Better than 100% beef allergy, but kiss bloody steaks goodbye.
Good luck.
How to Freeze Bacon
Yeah, this one month business is insanity.
Perbacco’s ‘Carbonara’ Is Seriously Strange
My feelings about "deconstructed" classics aside, they should have at least gotten it right -- pecorino romano and guanciale ought to have been used instead of parm and prosciutto. (Or at LEAST pancetta.)
How to Make Apple Cider
As a total cider dork (I know, you didn't even know we existed) I could go on and on about this, but I'll try to keep it brief. To start, I applaud Savvy Housekeeping (and, by extension, Serious Eats) for encouraging people to make their own cider--it will be a miliion times better than garbage like Woodchuck, which has about as much to do with cider as strawberry wine coolers have to do with strawberries, or wine for that matter. It’s also dead easy.
That said, I would urge people to think of cider more like wine and dig a little deeper. It’s not that much harder to make truly delicious, complex stuff—it’s really a matter of ingredients. You probably wouldn’t recommend that people make their own wine with Welch's, so why recommend that they use storebought apple juice? It's vastly preference to use fresh "sweet cider" aka the unfiltered juice that you can get from orchards in apple season. UV-treated or raw is preferable to pasteurized, which robs the cider of its delicate flavors. Again, do you think a winemaker would cook their grape juice before fermenting it? And finally, if you have an orchard that grows them, many older apple varieties (especially traditional cider varieties) have more complex flavors with tannin, acid and sugar in balance, which will create very complex and satisfying ciders. Finally, if you do want to take it seriously, learn a bit about the methods—the recipe above is very quick, but you’ll find that you can produce finer results from fermenting slowly at cool temperatures and giving it some time to meld and mature (I just tasted and bottled my cider from last fall for the first time last week).
I would never urge folks NOT to do whatever they can—as I said, even cider from storebought juice will be better than most storebought hard cider—but I would also urge people to give real cider a chance. If you want to buy some good, traditional cider to see how good and can get, I love West County in MA, Farnum Hill in NH (but available throughout the Northeast), and Foggy Ridge in VA. Slyboro in NY is pretty good too, and there are a few solid cidermakers in the upper Midwest and Northwest too. Less locally, good French cidre is pretty easy to find, and Basque cider is starting to show up on these shores too.
OK, end rant! And thanks for giving cider the time of day, SE!
Obituary: Sal, of Upper West Side Favorite Sal and Carmine's, Dies
Very sad news. I have fond memories of Sal and Carmines and their pizza is truly exemplary. One quibble, though, comes from my northern correspondent and S&C devotee Barn, who wrote to me:
"As one who lived in the neighborhood in the early 60's, I can assure all concerned that Carmine was there from day one."
Having not been around back then, I'm inclined to believe him. Can anyone else confirm or deny?
Serious Cocktails: Ladies Night
I'm no cocktail expert, and I've never had one of her cocktails, but it seems like SF's Alberta Straub shoudl have been on your list. My impression is that she's pretty widely known and revered, even called "the Alice Waters of booze!"
Is Artisanal, Handmade Food Always Better?
"this whole organic unprocessed fad is a phony game to separate well meaning folks from their money. my wife and daughter drink chocalate soy milk, direct from the "organic" section at Fairway, because they like the taste better. Crushed and processed soy bean mush is more "green" than regular old pasteurized 2%?. "
No, it's not a phony game, you're just not taking the time to understand it. Industrially produced chocolate soy milk is NOT the "whole, organic, unprocessed" alternative to pasteurized 2% milk from industrially-raised cows. One of the many whole, unprocessed alternatives to that milk is MILK from cows that have been raised humanely on pasture, without excessive antibiotics or hormones, maybe raw, maybe organic... from a small local farmer (that you know and trust) or a reputable group of producers (such as Organic Valley).
Two of the many factors contributing to the perceived faddishness of this movement include companies attempting to greenwash their products and the consumers who have been taught to inherently believe the claims made by corporations, supermarkets, and the like.
And whether soy milk in general is more sustainable than cow's milk is another question for another day.
Michelle Obama: The First Lady and a Serious Eater?
Yeah, I love this woman.
Dear AHT: Boston Five Guys No Good
Likewise, I've found that the Five Guys in Dedham is pretty good for what it is (a way-above-average, chain fast food style burger), but I have nothing to compare it with in terms of other 5G locations.
In terms of Boston being bad for burgers, I think that case may be overstated on here, in part because Kenji (whose posts I have truly enjoyed) likes a very particular style of burger. I've not been to many of the oft-lauded burger spots in Boston, but Highland Kitchen in Somerville usually serves up an excellent one, and I found Four Burgers in Cambridge much better than it's usually given credit for (though not truly great). For my part, more research to come...
Liberté Yogurt: My Holy Grail of Dairy Products
Yet another vote for Liberte as the best yogurt out there.
Dear Serious Eats: 'I Have Searched for Years for This Recipe; Please Help'
I definitely thought of a dutch baby right off the bat.
Bringing Back the Love of Lard
"But there is no market for "extra fatty" pork."
While that might have been true 10 years ago, it's significantly less true today. At the behest of lipid loving swine lovers everywhere, many of the fattier, more flavorful old variety pigs are being bred again. If you go to your local farmers' market, farmstand, coop, etc, it's likely that you can find (or special order) some nice berkshire or tamworth fatback or leaf lard to render...
And it's really not that big a pain. A few hours of relatively unattended cooking makes it no more arduous than making stew or a stock.
Dear Slice: 'Heading to NYC, and Pepe's in New Haven'
Adam out of respect for the Wooster St legacy I kept Pepe's at #3 because of the respect issue and because there are other pies Like the Clam which are out of this world. But I observed other people cutting into their pies and everyone was having the same issue and looked upset that it was taking so much work to eat their pies.....
the slice when you would pick it up would stay straight that's how tough the actual crust has been coming out of the oven lately at both locations.
I've eaten Pizza in quite a few cities and I've followed the GQ Pizza Article on a few of the Detroit pizzeria's since I have family on my wife's side who live out that way.
I really enjoyed buddy's pizza and actually found photos on my cell phone that I sent in. Way different pizza squares and such....
But back to New Haven, for the health conscious Pizza eater up the road about 4 miles up on Whitney ave in Hamden there is Olde World Pizza they do lo carb and even wheat pizza. It's not coal oven but it's pretty good stuff as well.
I haven't eaten yet at the new Yonkers location or the Mohegan Sun for Pepe's but once they went to 7 days a week and opening up at 11:30am something has changed, you need more staff, different people making the pizza and it's just different at Pepe's right now...
I should send them an email because I'm asked all the time 6'3 300lbs which of the big 5 is the best and I tell anyone depends on what you like on it. Sausage hands down is Zupps...... Modern is bigger in seating capacity, very thin Apizza...But they have won best pizza in the Advocate for the past 7 years....Ballot stuffing who knows..... But everyone I know loves Modern. The one thing I do love in regards to the peperoni used at Sallys and Pepe's is that it's cut off the stick.....It doesn't get any better than that......
Then you have to go down the block on Wooster for Italian Ice at Libby's.
Libby's has a new location in North Haven right down the street from me.
Homemade just awesomeness is all I can say. You want any Italian Cookie or Angel Wings, expresso , etc.....It doesn't get any better than Libby's after throwing down.....
Anyone ever wants to do a Pizza throwdown with a Former/Transplanted New Yorker.....
Just drop me a line.....
Enjoy the weekend and holidays everyone...
Dear Slice: 'Heading to NYC, and Pepe's in New Haven'
Wow. Thanks for the great intel, offthemeter. Interesting that Pepe's still comes in at No. 3 even from what you say above. Before I got to your ranking, I expected it to be somewhere after Bar or Zuppardi's. It's now clear we'll have to go back and do Bar and Zuppardi's (and re-try Pepe's).
Dear Slice: 'Heading to NYC, and Pepe's in New Haven'
I want to chime in since I grew up in New York City and now live 10 minutes from the Big 5 Modern, Sally's Pepe's, Zuppardi's and Bar.
Pepe's the last 3 times in the past 2 months and 1 time at the Spot which is the original Pepe's. Their crust I couldn't even cut it with my knife and it was beyond noticeable. 4 times same Original Location and the same experience it's not a coincidence until I read the other posts on here today.
Sallys sauce when you ask for extra sauce is the sweetest of the bunch. The rudeness factor makes me laugh but my wife refuses to eat there and she's a native and lifer of the area. The issue is they can only squeeze in 10 pies into their oven at a time and they take phone orders if you can get through.
Modern is our favorite out of the Big 5 the Italian Bomb is a hearty pie sausage, pep, bacon, onion, red pepper. I'm a Pepperoni guy that's all I need and sometimes just good old Sauce and Grated does me fine as well.
Bar Pizza is made by someone who used to work at Sally's so that's why it gets high marks as a sleeper pizza. I've only had pepperoni and cheese and it was pretty good.
Zuppardi's in West Haven...Their sausage Pie is really good not Coal Oven though and the decor is very old school.... Gives it Character.
1.Modern
2.Sally's
3.Pepe's
4. Zups
5. Bar
Dear Slice: 'Heading to NYC, and Pepe's in New Haven'
"My experience is also that Pepe's is much more variable than it was when the previous generation was running it and before its expansion, but I have had some remarkably good pizza there recently...."
IMO, I strongly feel that product AND consistency is what makes a great pizzeria. Most pizzerias, either because of lack of ingredient quality, lack of skill sets by the pizzamakers and/or lack of passion are not even capable of making a great pizza to begin with.
A "great" pizzeria is capable of making a great pizza and is driven to get as close to that greatness as often as possible.....which is most of the time.
It sounds like Pepe's is in the process of falling, or has already fallen from greatness, even if it can still crank out a great pizza from time to time. That's really sad to this pizza lover and a situation that hopefully will right itself sooner than later.
Adam, the pic of the Sally's pizzas look delicious BTW. I need to get to New Haven ASAP! --K
Dear Slice: 'Heading to NYC, and Pepe's in New Haven'
@gustoct: Point noted. I'll have to try Pepe's next time I'm in New Haven to see how the crust fares again. Now that I know how easy/quick it is to get to with a Zipcar, that should be soon.
Just called to verify with Zuppardi's Apizza: They use a gas-fired oven. No coal.
Dear Slice: 'Heading to NYC, and Pepe's in New Haven'
As a New Haven whose exposure goes back 47 years and who simply won't put up with the treatment at Sally's, I have mainly frequented Pepe's with occasional detours at Modern (as well as other places not as good and some really great ones, alas no longer with us). My experience is also that Pepe's is much more variable than it was when the previous generation was running it and before its expansion, but I have had some remarkably good pizza there recently and disagree with Ed's verdict (of course, I didn't have the pies he had). You get superb pizza more often than not and I haven't had a BAD one. My experience with the Fairfield location has actually been quite good, but I haven't tried the others.
I'll have to try Zuppardi's in West Havenm. Do they have a coal oven?
Dear Slice: 'Heading to NYC, and Pepe's in New Haven'
@jwardell: Went to the Pepe's on Wooster. The big one, not The Spot. We ordered a clam pie and a sausage/mozzarella pie. My main complaint was with the ABSOLUTE TOUGHNESS of the crust. OMG. Jawache after trying a slice of each. Even if it had the most flavorful plain sauce/grated cheese, I'd still have an issue with the crust. Tell me how ordering a plain pie is going to change the crust situation and I may reconsider my assessment on further review.
Dear Slice: 'Heading to NYC, and Pepe's in New Haven'
How can you diss Pepes when you didn't order a plainchees pie to compare it to the others?
I also wonder if you wen to one of its satellite locations which of course are nowhere near the original.
Also head into Reginas in boston (again, the original north end location), get a plain cheese well done.
Dear Slice: 'Heading to NYC, and Pepe's in New Haven'
We're pretty much with you, Adam. I like Sally's best overall, Lil digs Modern's tomato pie, but Sally's mozz. We agree that Pepe's is third. Still, we'd be happy with any of the three on any given day.
Dear Slice: 'Heading to NYC, and Pepe's in New Haven'
A few weeks ago, I stopped at Sally's while driving back from Boston to NYC, around 8pm on a Wednesday night. It was about half-full. The service was friendly, and not unpleasant. But the pizza... was superb. For two of us, we got a medium pie with mozzarella, and a medium eggplant parmesan pie (it was a special). Both were exceptionally delicious--if they have the eggplant pie, definitely get it--it's the best eggplant pizza you'll ever eat.
What Is Ice Cider?
Love this stuff instead of dessert. Last year, I tasted an ice cider/brandy blend that packed a real punch, both in flavour and alcohol content. Wish I could find it again.
Dear Slice: 'Heading to NYC, and Pepe's in New Haven'
I'm astounded by the undeserved dis of Pepe's clam pie. It was only a few weeks ago that my food writer friend and I drove up to NH with the specific intention of eating that very pizza. We even called ahead to make sure Pepe's had a clam pie that day since we were disappointed last time around when no clams were to be had. We arrived about 3pm. Not much of a wait at that time of day. We were seated almost as soon as we walked through the door. We ordered our prey. It came to the table large, hot, redolent of garlic and chopped fresh salty succulent clams. A little sprinkling of cheese (not a no-no in this instance) The crust was perfect. Chewy, crisp and light. Not a bit doughy or tough. The pie was, in a word, perfection and I will defend it to the death. To paraphrase a well-respected, former contender for the vice presidency of the United States-- I have had Pepe's clam pie and Lombardy's you are no Pepe's.
Dear Slice: 'Heading to NYC, and Pepe's in New Haven'
Man, I really dont like sliced tomatoes on my pizza...but the "plain" and sausage look gooood! Used to go to Ricky's Clam House often back in the daze of yore..so funny its a Frank Pepe's now. Hope its good.
Dear Slice: 'Heading to NYC, and Pepe's in New Haven'
With 20/20 hindsight, we should have hit Bar instead of Pepe's. Even then, we would have been cutting it close. We were told by a New Havenite who joined us at Modern that Bar would likely have a long wait but that we could probably do a Pepe's take-out pie in between Modern and Sally's. And so that's what we did.
Dear Slice: 'Heading to NYC, and Pepe's in New Haven'
Another vote for Bar Pizza in New Haven!
Dear Slice: 'Heading to NYC, and Pepe's in New Haven'
I haven't been to Sallys but think that Modern is better than Pepes. If the line is too long at Modern, they have a take out area around the corner (entrance is in the parking lot). Last time there I got a pie and ate it outside to avoid the crowd waiting for a table.
Non-pizza wise, excellent choices with Ess-a-bagel (21st and 1st location only - get whatever is hot), Katz's (pastrami on rye with mustard, sour pickles on the side and a hot dog or knoblewurst to eat while waiting for your cutter to finish preparing the pastrami sandwich), White Manna (a few sliders w/ cheese and onion) and Rutt's Hut (2 rippers and an order of onion rings).
What Is Ice Cider?
I am even more excited to try the ice cider a visiting couchsurfer brought us from montréal!
Dear Slice: 'Heading to NYC, and Pepe's in New Haven'
I was just at Pepe's a week ago (thank god for being a hockey mom I at least get to visit some decent food places!) and even my 11-year old said, "This pizza just has so much flavor!"
I admit I have not been to Sally's (have to check the hockey schedule!) but have been to Modern and I love Pepe's much more.
I also like going to the bakery next to Pepe's with the 10 different flavor cannolis too.
What Is Ice Cider?
Last month someone offered me a whiff of Prince Edward County ice cider. It smelled like baked apples. I tried some a few weeks later and it was delicious.
Dear Slice: 'Heading to NYC, and Pepe's in New Haven'
Bah, Pepe's is for tourists, Bar Pizza in New Haven makes a far better pie... and you won't convince me otherwise.
Dear Slice: 'Heading to NYC, and Pepe's in New Haven'
TJ, Shake Shack is across from the Museum of Natural History. If by chance you are a vegetarian, as I am, try the veggieburger/portobello burger, it is GREAT!
Pepe's is now in Yonkers right outside NYC, only 20 minutes by car from Mannahatta. It's on Central Avenue, 1955, right past Tuckahoe Road on the left side while going north. I believe it's the old Ricky's Clam House. It's GOOD and beats the ride to New Haven to death. Again it's good, real good and relatively cheap! Enjoy!
Dear Slice: 'Heading to NYC, and Pepe's in New Haven'
The pizzas from the non-Wooster St Pepe's are a mere shadow of the real deal.
And the real deal itself.... is more variable than it used to be. In the last 5 years, I've had about 12 phenomenal apizzas... and about 6 "merely good" ones.
Dear Slice: 'Heading to NYC, and Pepe's in New Haven'
I have had pizza from the wooster street pepe's twice in the last six weeks. Both times the pizza was good, but not great. The crust was kind of stiff and the pies just lacked that bit of pizza soul that separates good pizza from transcendent pizza.
Dear Slice: 'Heading to NYC, and Pepe's in New Haven'
It's been ages since I've had Frank Pepe's. This was only my second time! (First and only time before that was my trip there in 2004.) I will turn this question over to Ed Levine, who stops there frequently on his way up to Cape Cod. Spoiler: Ed said it's been going downhill as of late.
Dear Slice: 'Heading to NYC, and Pepe's in New Haven'
Adam, have the pizzas at Pepe's changed over the last couple of years?
I recently had Pepe's at the Mohegan Sun location on 2 consecutive days (have not been to Wooster Street yet) and I had a hard time believing the pizzas I had there bore any resemblence at all to the Wooster Street location. Is this the case?
The pizzas I had at the Mohegan Sun were decent pizzas, but not remotely close to being the world class pizza people rave about when they mention Frank Pepe's.
Either Wooster Street makes a product which is drastically better than the Mohegan Sun Pepe's or the quality at Pepe's has to have slipped at some point relatively recently. Am I missing something? Thanks --K
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Slyboro Cider in Upstate NY makes a very nice ice cider. http://www.slyboro.com/. Their website says they will be at the New Amsterdam Market this weekend in NYC.