Finally out of pizza funk in FFD county

[jfood]

It’s been a bad few months for jfood and pizza. For some reason he has not been able to get a good pie. First the guy who has been making them in the local pizzeria retired and the new guy is still on the learning curve. Then jfood went to Pepe’s in Fairfield and was not impressed. Leitizia’s in Wilton was just too messy (more effort than needed to eat)but tasted very good.

So what’s a jfood to do? Road trip to Colony Grill in Stamford.

Two words – THANK YOU

Two of us split two pies, one hot oil and one meatball and mushroom. The meatball and mushroom was the first slice, needed salt, no biggie and then the taste. The meatballs were pretty bland and jfood started feeling like the Mets, when will the bad streak end. Then the Hot Oil. A little salt and then a taste. PERFECTION FINALLY. Major sigh, big smile, and the bad streak now turned hugely positive.

So if you’re down in the dumps and need a good pie, the Hot Oil at Colony is still a 10.

Thank you, thank you, and thank you. Pizza is back on the A-List.

Now if the Mets can only figure out how to score more runs than their opponents.

[amanda3571]

For those that live & work in Stamford....if we're not ordering Colony - for pick up - at the offfice....we order Spazzio for delivery. A little neighborhood joint down in the Shippan area, but their pizza is actually pretty good. And they make great gorgonzola salads & garlic knots.

[KarenNYC]

must say that I am shocked. we have always had a great pie at Pepe's in Fairfield. sorry the experience was not that good - try again - you might be surprised. either way - I was highly unimpressed with Colony Grill. I had heard great things and we rushed there a few years ago and thought it was average. since then - I have heard mostly mixed reviews. glad you got it on a good night, what did you think makes it so great. maybe I missed something - altho I doubt it.

[Foodie Fairfield]

Try the hot oil with sausage.

[frankbooth]

love Colony Hot Oil Pizzas- and don't forget your # when you call it in or they will mock you- also love Letizia's- great spicing, lot's of oregano? delicious little greasy pies, and absolutely flipped over the crust at Carminuccio's in Newtown- totally religious crust experience. for the record, i grew up eating sally's and pepe's and have eaten pizza in napoli and all over italy many many times- and still love CT pizza more than anywhere else in the world. well, napoli doesn't suck either... enjoy fb

[meatman]

I recently found a great pizza place in norwalk / wilton .. in a strip mall of all places, near the outback / walmart in Wilton.... Letizias Pizza.... it is pretty much a take out place there are a few tables... its been around since 1937 every sunday and monday large cheese pizzas are only $ 8.00 I would put it right up there with Colony Grill...be sure to try the "garbage" pie...... and yes it is a thin crust type of pizza "new haven" style....

[jfood]

welcome to ch meatman and nice catch. you've definitely hit the ground running on this and your other posts.

leitizias is a good second to colony and the best in the route 7 corridor. A different character than colony. it's much "messier" than colony and a knife and fork always recommended. the chinese two doors down ain;t that bad either.

[SweetPea914]

Maybe it's just me, but I never "got" letizia's. I used to work just down the road and my company would frequently order in pies on Friday's, for monthly meetings etc. I always found the pizza way too greasy, too much oregano as someone else said and the grease seemed like a very strong olive oil, I feel like the oil used for pizza should be on the milder side. I dunno what it was exactly, but it was never a contender for great pizza IMO.
I do miss Colony though and need to get back there!

[jfood]

sp

any other suggestion in your old 'hood. jfood has not found any.

TIA

[SweetPea914]

I know Pizza can be very subjective. My preference runs toward the thin crust, easyish on the toppings type of Pizza, so I think we're in general agreement. We used to get delivery (when I lived in SONO) from Fat Cat on Wall Street and I always liked them a lot. I also LOVED a place on North main, just North of Washington Street that I noticed has since closed when I was there for the SONO arts festival this past August. I don't know if they've re-opened anywhere else in the area, but it was just a man's name (Frank's, John's??)

Now that I'm thinking about it, I really need to try Fat Cat and see if it's as good as I remember. I still haven't found a pizza I LOVE here in Westchester. You have me very curious about the hot oil pie at colony, I may have to stop by this Sat and see what all the fuss is about :-)

[FoodieForAll]

I hear Remo's in Stamford is pretty good. Any thoughts on that? Also, I had Belltown Pizza once and it I would put it in the "not bad" catagory.

[Foodie Fairfield]

Remo's is very good. 2 different styles from which to choose. I find their Neapolitan style to be slightly less consistent than the New York style, however when they are "on" (charred crust, rich sauce, bubbling mozz), their pies can be exceptional. They also have really good salads, very fresh ingredients.

[steve h.]

belltown is ok, so is remo. belltown needs to improve their crust. remo needs to spend more time in naples, raise their prices and shoot for the best pie their oven can bake. lots of unrealized potential here.

i'll always go to belltown because their pie is good, people greet me by name and i can walk there. remo's is downtown and does a land office business for lunch. they have the tools to pull off a great pie but i'm not convinced the incentive is there.

[cteats]

I think you're dead on about unrealized potential at Remo's. I've had pies there that rivaled some of the best NY pies such as Lombardi's (the epitome, for me). But, I've had others that were good but fell way short. And, the salads, though tasty, are fairly ordinary.

Still the best pizza in town by a mile. Hoping they solve the consistency issues and raise the level to something really special.

[jfood]

in the neighborhood and went to Remo's today. Individual sausage and pepper. Jfood would give it a 7 on the jfood scale, it was very good and has tremendous upside. The crust was very tasty, the sauce good, nice mozzy and the sausage was good but would like tosee a little more fennel.

How, with all these good ingredients does it only get a 7. For some reason, it just did not come together like a great pie. Will have to absolutely give it another try. could be a candidate for #2 in Stm.

[nbermas]

I know you are talking about just pizza but please try this new deli in Stamford on Hope street in the CVS strip mall, called Enze's (I think) it is authentic Italian and once a month on a Saturday they have a homemade pasta party at lunch time $8 and it is great and I had a slice of pizza yesterday and it was good. Very clean and very nice people own it, I hope it stays around. Very reasonbly priced not like A &S.

[jfood]

thanks. across from hope street pizza?

also heard some former bakers from hope st went to norwalk of new canaan ave across from the lime to open a pizzeria. any feedback

[nbermas]

Yes, try and tell me what you think! I only go to home cooked small restaurants any suggestions around Stamford to Norwalk? Any type is good? Thanks

[Zobot]

Mrs. Zobot and I had lunch at Pepe's in Fairfield today -- medium pizza with mushroom and sausage. The Colony is a better pizza, but I didn't think Pepe's was bad. My biggest gripe was the after-taste of the rather burnt crust.

[jfood]

jfood would call pepes "not bad" and would call Colony great. if by choice, no chance jfood going to pepes. not worth it. reputation way ahead of quality.

now some will place jfood in the pepes wood oven. sorry, just did not do it for him.

[laylag]

Did you have Pepe's white clam pizza jfood?

[jfood]

yup, way too salty. even taking into account the brininess of clams, the salinity was too too high. crust was absolutely tasteless. just not jfood cup of tea.

[steve h.]

it's supposed to be that way. sorry you didn't like it. clearly not your cup o' tea.

[jfood]

yep others really enjoy, jfood would rather have a nice bacon pizza at sallys

[steve h.]

sub guanciale for bacon. similar but different. give it a shot.

[jfood]

and where might one find a place that serves this.

[steve h.]

otto (one fifth avenue). only on thursdays.

[jfood]

town? stm?

[steve h.]

city. manhattan. greenwich village. batali owns the joint. pizzas are cooked on a griddle. very controversial. very good.

[jfood]

a little out of the +/- 20 miles jfood travels for new pizza.

thanks tho

[steve h.]

no worries.
still, nyc is a great antidote for the pizza funk.

[jfood]

so's new haven and an easier drive. so many choices so little slices.

[steve h.]

i'm a train guy. takes about 45 minutes for me to nyc.

[laylag]

I didn't find it salty at all - just briny, fresh clam taste, garlicky, olive oil and the crust, for me was not tasteless - nice light char but like you say, not your cup of tea. Tis mine and I just wish it was closer.

[dolores]

Pepe's white clam -- Still the best pizza I've ever had.

Tried a new place yesterday -- Gianna's off of North Broadway in Yonkers. Service was outstanding and speedy, wine wasn't a snobbish pour of an inch in a tall glass, there was room to breathe, and the pizza was very good. Tried to decide with mr. dolores on ranking -- he still likes Francesco's in White Plains the best. Then Gianna's and Broadway, also in White Plains. Finally Modern in New Rochelle and Silvio's in Thornwood.

Since Johnny's hasn't room to sit, grumpy servers and is cash only, we pass on Johnny's.

Via Appia in Silverlake ruined a perfectly good pizza. I don't know how one does such a hatchet job on a pizza, but their new owners turn out one of the worst pizzas I've ever eaten.

[scharffenberger]

Glad to hear you got a pie of your dreams.

[jfood]

S

Have you tried the new place on 123 across from Lime in Norwalk for Pizza. Hearing good things and wanted to ask someone jfood trusts.

[amanda3571]

jfood, do you know the name of this place?

[jfood]

trying to go today and willreport back.

[jfood]

Jfood reporting back.

It's G&G 161 Main st. in Norwalk. just finished a sausage and pepper and am totally underwhelmed.

Positives - very nice people couldn't be nicer. cooked perfectly. crust was the perfect brown color jfood likes. green pepper, thinly sliced to get a nice crunchiness. Cheese had a nice tang to it.
Negatives - sausage was circles of tastelessness. no flavor whatsoever. jfood went as far as picking one off just to taste without the sauce and cheese and still no flavor. crust was flavorless - tasted like flour and water, no ups no extras.. sauce tasted like a bunch of tomatoes thrown in a pot and processed, no flavor.

Overall, almost a waste of a trip. Jfood gives it a 4 on the jfood scale. In a pinch and in the 'hood would stop for a slice, but not worth a separate trip.

Oh well, jfood tried.

[amanda3571]

Too bad.

Nothing really compares to Colony. I find most pizza around here to be just "OK" (Colony excluded).

Thanks for the update.

[jfood]

if you want a "high end" pizza try Sole in new canaan. they make a good margheritta and their sausage has a nice fennel flavor and cooked in a wood stove..

they also make some nice flatbreads (some call it pizza), with other non-traditional ingredients (sweet corn is jfoods favorite in season) but jfood will not call it pizza.

[amanda3571]

Thanks, I'll defintiely try that.

I used to enjoy Westport Pizza growing up, but it's been a very long time since I had that. Cappriccio in Stamford also has some of those specialty flatbread pizzas which are pretty good - but you're right, it's not really pizza.

Has anyone been to Michael's in Stamford lately? I recall them having a pretty good pie.

[jfood]

we get westport pizza delivered to our poker night and it does not even get a 4 on the jfood scale but it's been steaming in the box for some time. unfortunately the chinese delivered is no better so jfood drinks a lot of root beer and eats chips (potato, not poker).

[amanda3571]

I haven't had WP for maybe 15 yrs...but when you're a teenager, most pizza tastes pretty good.

Have you ever tried Modern Apizza in New Haven? Now THERE is a good pie/

[Elizzie]

G&G isn't new, it's been there for ever...and the only pizza places on Rte. 123 in Norwalk are John's (Not) Best, Uncle Joe's, and that D&D place -- there used to be a really bad pizza place in the same strip mall as Glen's Variety.
Sorry you wasted a trip.

[jfood]

no biggie, jfood ate Uncle Joes a few years ago and it was very tasty but way over the top greasy. Jfood felt like taking a 20mg dose of lipitor after eating it with a Rolaids chaser.

http://jfoodonfood.blogspot.com/

[Cheese Boy]

Can anyone elaborate a bit on what 'Hot Oil' on pizza is ???

Is it oil with hot red pepper flakes in it ?

[jfood]

they soak hot pepper in oil and then top a pizza with the oil plus one of the peppers.

[Cheese Boy]

Oh my goodness. I'm one of those people who sometimes blots their pizza with a napkin before eating it to *remove* some of the oil -- and here you folks are putting more ON. Isn't the pizza just one big oily mess ?

Then again, I recently saw pizza slices topped with commercial mozzarella cheese, whole breaded fried shrimp, and bacon bits (all on the same slice). I'm sure somebody out there would also decide to include a generous amount of 'Hot Oil' on all of this.

It's all good as long as you adhere to a prescribed regimen of Lipitor.

[Zobot]

No, it really isn't. It's a very crisp and delicious pizza.

[jfood]

CB

amazingly the pizza without the oil is pretty much oil free (yeah right) and the addition of the oil adds just a touch. thatis why many consider it the best in FFD county.

[TBird]

cheese "oil" you blot off and adding olive oil are two completely different animals.

[Cheese Boy]

You're the first to mention *olive* oil here at all. Who knew Hot Oil was/is infused *olive* oil...? I didn't -- but I think I do now (If what you're saying is correct, TBird).

[TBird]

i could be wrong, it's been known to happen!

if i am wrong, i'm wit' 'chu!

:-)

[steve h.]

colony puts a smile on my face. not for pizza purists. happy, happy for stamford denizens. i go for lunch every six months or so whether i need it or not. always sit at the bar. irish pizza? whatever. we yankees fans go for hot oil and pepperoni.

[cruising_for_burgers]

jfood,

I share your pain -- about pizza and the Mets. Glad to hear about this place in Stamford.

Another place you might try is Zuppardi's - though in W Haven and not FFD County, they do make good pies.

What are your thoughts on Nauti Dolphin, at FFD train station?

[jfood]

fairfield too far.

[Foodie Fairfield]

Go with the hot oil & sausage next time...if you are daring, add some cherry peppers or stingers.