Pete's be with you...
Another addition to the 14th & Irving big-business-bang hatched yesterday.
Pete's New Haven Style Apizza is nestled in the corner behind the Potbelly and the west entrance to the Columbia Heights metro. With all the construction and finish-work being done on the condos above, it's easy to miss the place, wedged beneath scaffolding and noisy whatnot...
I'm not familiar with the idea of "New Haven Style Apizza" -- evidently "apizza" is a colloquial term for this particular subspecies of pizza(?!?!) But New Haven? What, pray, is Connecticut's unique contribution to the pizza universe?
That's not a snarky question, seriously: what's the deal? At first I thought the name was just a weak pun, which isn't a bad thing. Clearly I dig me some weak puns.
For what it's worth, they claim (via the website) to use organic and local ingredients whenever possible, to be environmentally sensitive, and to revere "the Italian food culture of freshness, quality and simplicity." So there you are.
This aint no cheap apizza, neither. The basic pie will run you $17.95, one topping $19.95, two toppings $21.95, three or more $23.95. In terms of raw cash, Red Rocks beats Pete's by several bucks ($8.95 for the Red Rocks basic pie, plus $1.50 per basic topping or $2.50 for the exotic stuff).
BUT, Pete's toppings list offers some nice items as well: sauteed wild mushrooms, fried Italian eggplant, asparagus, carmelized onions, grilled artichokes, etc. This means I can finally get a decent artichoke/roasted red pepper pizza (a magical combination, trust me... particularly if you can get it with smoked gouda).
The menu also mentions appetizers, pasta, panini, Italian coffees, draft beer and wines, and a few desert items (no specifics on the beers).
So, the neighborhood continues to grow, and now the scent of highbrow pizza enters the mix. I'm eager to try the place. But I'm still a-wondering about this "New Haven" thing....
Apizza? Gesundheit!
3 comments:
The main thing I like about Pete's is you can walk in and buy a slice. That's a good thing. If I'm hungry for a whole pie, I'll probably still go to Red Rocks or Radius.
great meeting you this evening - and curious mouse that I am had to check out your blog....great, great, great....
regarding the whole new haven pizza thing....I lived in new haven years back and of course very familiar with the mystic of new haven pizza or apizza.... some natives claim new haven invented the concept (clearly wrong - and they also claim to have invented the hamburger in new haven also)....new haven style pizza is very thin, must be baked in coal or wood fired brick ovens and well known for creative toppings....new haven is where I had my first 'white pizza' which in 1982 was a totally foreign concept a pizza without red sauce.
okay this is much more than you ever, ever wanted but next time I'm in town with feagin - you can make sure we'll check out pete's and see if this claim stands up!
petes be with you bro and let there be petes on earth or is it whirled peas on earth!
I went to Pete's right after it opened and I liked my pizza so much I started swearing.
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