May 22 was the day the foodies looked up, the pizzaiolos stopped tossing, and the earth stood still. The city of New Haven has been pushing out pizzas since 1925, but in recent months, decades of semolina and sauce culminated in major national recognition.
Five years ago, Barstool’s Dave Portnoy dubbed the Elm City “The Pizza Capital.” In January of this year, The New York Times pizza crawled with local historian, Colin Caplan. In February, Oscar-nominated actor Paul Giamatti raved about our apizza on Jimmy Kimmel Live. In April, Food&Wine published a complete guide to our pizza in anticipation of its 100th anniversary. And yesterday, the United States Congress officially validated what we’ve been saying for 100 years: New Haven is the Pizza Capital of the United States.
Here’s what happened.
On Wednesday, May 22, U.S. Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro, representing Connecticut’s Third District, entered a statement into the Congressional Record declaring “New Haven the Pizza Capital of the United States.” New Haven’s pizza makers, legislators, and community leaders boarded an Avelo flight to the nation’s capital to meet Representative DeLauro (who grew up on Wooster Street) on the steps of the U.S. Capitol Building.
This historic proclamation honored the thousands of Connecticut families and locals who have devoted their lives to crafting America’s best pizza. Our pizza culture stands on the shoulders of pizzaiolos, foodies, and of course, our city’s dedicated Pizza Historian, Colin Caplan. Through his work with Taste of New Haven, a company he founded in 2011, Caplan has been championing our distinct dish through exclusive pizza tours and classes, a published book, a documentary film, and even an apizza-centric food festival. He said it best: “Top chefs, celebrities, politicians and food critics have been raving over New Haven pizza for decades because there’s a level of pizza alchemy taking place in this area surpassed by nowhere else.”
The forces behind this alchemy come from some of New Haven’s oldest pizzerias, including the city’s “Big Three” of Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana, Sally’s Apizza, and Modern Apizza; all of which were present at the Capitol. Also present for the proclamation were the owners, families, and pizzaiolos of BAR, Est Est Est Pizza, Grand Apizza, Next Door, Pizza at the Brick Oven, and Zeneli Pizzeria.
These New Haven locals arrived to the steps of the U.S. Capitol after stopping at Frank Pepe’s nearby Alexandria location for some pies, but they weren’t the only ones in attendance. Congressman Hakeem Jeffries and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez also made an appearance at the event, with AOC throwing in a playful “BOO!” on behalf of New York City, her stomping grounds.
Before long, our crew was back onboard Avelo, wings up and heading home to Tweed with stomachs full and hearts fuller. We’re left with only the memories of apizza’s most historic day – and that new title. As for the future of pizza in the nation’s Pizza Capital, nothing is changing. We’ve arrived at this point by keeping it simple. Dough, sauce, mozz. Charred, not burnt. Pies not slices.
In New Haven, we’re serving up tradition. Congressionally-approved tradition. Eat up.
