I know I'll get a lot of argument on this point but here goes...
Growing up in the Northeast Tri-state area, I had the opportunity to try some really awesome pizza (frequently known in Connecticut as apizza, pronounced, "Ah-beets") These pies are baked in wood fired, brick ovens that make the food taste better the older and better used they get. The best of these restaurants are typically in the Italian section of New Haven or Hartford, where it is possible to arrive in this country from Italy speaking no English and never really needing to learn it.
You may be familiar with Frank Pepe's, Tony & Lucile's, Sally's, or any one of dozens of places people will wait for hours in the snow to get a table for. My all-time fav is easily Modern Apizza on State Street. Opened in 1934 (a comparatively young oven) Modern makes the kind of pizza that I often dream about (seriously).
Since moving away almost 15 years ago, I've found new opportunities to sample very good pizzas from all over. "This is very good", my wife and I would agree, "but it's no 'Modern'".
This week we've been visiting friends and family in Connecticut, and we decided to make a pilgrimage to New Haven for food. Here was the test - was the pizza just what we remembered as being that good or was it actually that good? We ordered the fabled Clam & bacon (we like it with the non-traditional red sauce) and cold Elm City to wash it down...Yep, like they print on the receipt, "The best pizza in the World!"
Modern Apizza, 874 State Street, New Haven, CT, 203.776.5306 http://www.modernapizza.com/