“Ah-beets”, “Mootz”. “the Line”.
If you know New Haven Pizza you are familiar with these terms. For the uninitiated “Ah-beets” refers to pizza also known as “Apizza”. “Mootz” means mozzarella, which can be requested on your pizza. “The line” refers to the line waiting in line to get a pizza. As a matter of record, I have waited in line over an hour and a half to get into Pepe’s and Sally’s. This is the price you pay to have New Haven pizza.
“Pizza, A Love Story” a movie released in 2019, tells the story of three of the most famous pizzerias in New Haven. Pepe’s, Sally’s and Modern. As the tagline, for the movie states: Pizza was not invented in New Haven, it was perfected there. The movie gives an in-depth history of why Italians emigrated to New Haven and what these new arrivals brought to the city. Of course, the Italians brought their culture but most importantly they brought their food, pizza (Apizza). As someone whose grandparents got off the boat from Italy, and settled in Providence, Rhode Island, I found this most fascinating.
The movie puts a focus on the big three pizzerias in New Haven. I have often referred to them as the “Holy Trinity of Pizza”. In all fairness to pizza lovers, there is a lot of great pizza in New Haven and the surrounding area. These other pizza places are not mentioned in the film.
The pizza in New Haven is unlike pizza you will find anywhere else. It can be oblong-shaped, with a charred and almost burnt crust. The pizza may be cooked in a coal-fired oven or in the case of Modern, an oil-fired oven. There is certainly lots of “hype” about the pizza. There are some patrons who were disappointed. The fact is the pizza lovers in New Haven are extremely loyal to their pizza. Don’t ever try to say that New Haven Pizza is not the best in the world.
Pizza fans in New Haven are not just loyal to New Haven pizza. They are loyal to a particular pizza. As the movie points out so well, this loyalty knows no bounds. Sally’s fans say Sally’s is absolutely the best. No, no, counter Pepe’s fans: it’s Pepe’s only. The Modern Apizza fans are argumentative about Modern. Don’t even try to dissuade them about this! There are lifelong disagreements and arguments about which pizza place makes the best pizza. And that is why New Haven Pizza and the culture around this loyalty will not be found anywhere on the planet.
As my friend Tommy Ianucci points out “…If you want to understand the pizza world as a big picture, you must, you have to, include New Haven, and it’s a shame if you don’t. And shame on you if you don’t know about New Haven”.
Tom and I reviewed the film. Here is our review of “Pizza, A Love Story”
Without a doubt, one of the most incredible films on pizza ever created. The film covers many great aspects of New Haven pizza. I have only praise for this film. I would have liked the makers of the film to have included more pizza places. There are many other great pizza places in New Haven. The other story that should have made it into the film was a story I featured about my friend Gail, who won $25,000 for making a pizza using New Haven water. This story was written in 2010 and you can find it here: The Legends of Pizza Blog. The show featured Guy Fieri of the Food Network and was filmed in New York. During filming, she drove from New York to Sally’s in New Haven to get water used in her pizza. And she won! You can hear the entire story here: The $25,000 Pizza with Gail”.
I just discovered that you can now, watch the entire film “Pizza, a Love Story”.
As of this writing, you can watch it totally free. Watch below:
If you would like an alternative way to watch Pizza, A Love Story, Click HERE
