Best Linguine And Clams Ever

From the first bite I was in love! Nicely cooked pasta, small clams and a light sauce with rich seasoning in every mouthful. Was it the mullet roe? Whatever it was, it was dynamite!

Best linguine and clams ever. This was truly a California surprise.

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I’m learning more about SoCal every day. For instance, at least a half dozen people have told me the worst traffic is on Thursday afternoon. Did all the former college students who arranged for no Friday classes figure out a way to preserve that as adults?

It was with this is mind that we set a halfway point to meet our friends Farrell and Vered for dinner last night. They live near Palm Springs, but were visiting in Los Angeles. We headed to Long Beach. Traffic on the 405 did not disappoint.

None of us know much about Long Beach, so we set out to find a restaurant using Yelp. That’s always scary. Yelp can be swayed, good or bad, with enough effort.

Our second worry was Vered and Farrell dine… we eat. Their tastes are more sophisticated.

IMAG1037We ended up going to La Parolaccia. In Italian, the name means “the bad language.”

Long Beach is a beach community (duh). La Parolaccia is in a neighborhood away from the water. It seemed like a locals place.

The TV over the bar was tuned to RAI! It’s an Italian place with Italians who speak Italian! A California rarity.

IMAG1038Helaine had lasagna, Farrell salmon, Vered a simple spaghetti dish and I had “Linguine alle Vongole con Bottarga.” That’s my go to pasta dish, linguine with clams. At La Parolaccia they add “bottarga,” grated dry mullet roe (dried fish eggs).

From the first bite I was in love! Nicely cooked pasta, small clams and cherry tomatoes in a light sauce with rich seasoning in every mouthful. Was it the mullet roe? Whatever it was, it was dynamite!

Best linguine and clams ever. This was truly a California surprise.

Helaine and I were worried when we picked a place sight unseen, but the service was great, the bread hot and the food tasty and genuinely Italian.

We sat, shmoozed and ate. Good friends are always worth the drive.

An hour ten there, thirty five minutes home. Thursday traffic!

Pizza With A Side Of Guilt

Pepe’s versus Sally’s is like Mets versus Yankees, Jets versus Giants, Geno’s versus Pat’s, Coke versus Pepsi. Either choice is good, but lovers of one don’t stray to the other. Sacrelege!

For over 25 years when I’ve had pizza on Wooster Street I’ve gone to Sally’s. I have been loyal. Last night I cheated! Last night Helaine and I along with our friends Bob and Karen went to Pepe’s.

If you’re not from New Haven this elevation of pizza joints might not make sense. Pepe’s versus Sally’s is like Mets versus Yankees, Jets versus Giants, Geno’s versus Pat’s, Coke versus Pepsi. Either choice is good, but lovers of one don’t stray to the other. Sacrelege!

Last night’s gastronomic straying started when I met Sue, a friend of Sonia Baghdady’s and a waitress at Pepe’s. It was Sue’s encouragement that brought us a few blocks farther down Wooster.

Helaine and I drove into New Haven planning on meeting our dinner partners at 7:30 PM. I got a text message a few minutes later and a link to a Glympse tracking map.

Because I’m Bob’s friend I didn’t include the documentary proof he was doing 80 mph on I-95 as he buzzed through Branford. This shot getting on the “Q” Bridge had him down to 62 mph and still more than 10 minutes away.

Luckily time wasn’t of the essence. We walked into Pepe’s chilly and hungry.

As ponytailed Billy took our order Sue changed from waitress to docent! She recounted with pride the story of Frank Pepe, how he went from immigrant baker to pizza evangelist.

The story was good, but I know the real secret to Pepe and Sally’s success: the oven!

A Wooster Street pizza is cooked in a 650 degree coal fired brick oven. This combination of coal and brick keeps the oven’s temperature hot and nearly constant. A pizza oven doesn’t turn on-and-off like your oven at home. In fact these pizza ovens are never turned off. They are fired and hot 24/7!

Each year for a week Sally’s and Pepe’s both shut down. I thought it was because of vacation, but Sue said it was for maintenance on the ovens. They take three days to cool down and another three to get back to temperature!

How was the pizza? How sweet is heaven? Amazing. The crust is thin. The sauce tasty without overpowering the toppings. We had one pie red and the other white.

After dinner I spent some time walking back into the kitchen and saying hello to everyone. As with much of Wooster Street Pepe’s is a family business. More importantly it’s run like a family business. Much of the waitstaff have been carrying hot pies to customers for decades.

I still felt guilty about the whole thing, but pizza is the universal guilt solvent.