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.

New Haven Photowalk 2010

This was my third walk. The first was great. The second not so much. Saturday fell in between. I enjoyed the day though there were few good shots.

Saturday was the third annual Worldwide Photowalk. Here in Connecticut it was a beautiful day–hot and sweaty for sure, but from a photo standpoint the sky was a deep blue and free from haze. I set out for the Peabody Museum in New Haven our walk’s starting point.

This was my third walk. The first was great. The second not so much. Saturday fell in between. I enjoyed the day though there were fewer good shots than I hoped for.

I met two women from Trumbull and walked with them through the Yale campus and New Haven. My time with them made the day worthwhile. Good company.

As striking as Yale is once again I had trouble finding the proper way to capture it. That’s more me than it. I did come to the conclusion there are too many architectural styles on display on-campus. Often there are jarring juxtapositions of old versus new in close proximity.

It’s possible the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library is the ugliest building in Connecticut (though its inside is full of scholarly goodness and priceless treasures). The Yale Art and Architecture Building is a close second. It’s home to the School of Architecture. I wonder if they know?

There was one odd moment on the Yale campus. A group of Korean students (probably high school) were visiting the school on their one week trip to the United States. That’s a lot to squeeze in a week! I spoke briefly to a few of them and then as I was walking away they asked if they could have their picture taken with me! I posed with three or four groups of giggling young girls.

Why me? No clue. I’m sure there are Caucasians seen in Korea. Maybe these kids don’t have access? Maybe Asian women fantasize about Jewish men? Nah.

In the end my best shots were taken in New Haven’s historic Grove Street Cemetery–itself a tourist attraction. I set out to take advantage of the very shallow depth-of-field with my 70-200mm f/2.8 lens.

Return Of The Photowalk… Again

Two years ago Steve Brenner and I drove to Brooklyn, took the subway to Manhattan and walked back across the Brooklyn Bridge. It was probably my best photo day ever!

Saturday is the annual Worldwide Photowalk. I plan to attend in New Haven even though it’s scheduled for the middle of the night: 9:30 AM! Are they nuts?

Worldwide 29,000 photographers are signed up to attend 1,108 walks. The New Haven walk is limited to 50 with 49 already on board.

Q. What is a Photo Walk?
A. It’s a social photography event where photographers get together (usually in a downtown area or trendy section of town) to walk around, shoot photos, and generally have fun with other photographers.

Two years ago Steve Brenner and I drove to Brooklyn, took the subway to Manhattan and walked back across the Brooklyn Bridge. It was probably my best photo day ever! The Brooklyn Bridge pano at the top of this entry was taken at the end of the walk.

Last year I did New Haven which is an architecturally interesting city and was still as disappointed as could be.

New group leader. New meeting place. New route. I’m giving it another shot.

I’m excited because I’ll be carrying one additional lens. In anticipation of an upcoming trip I’ve rented a 4.5mm fisheye lens for ten days. FedEx says it’s here Thursday. It should give me an additional perspective… good or bad.

Publishing with Movabltype

I’m not so sure what was so difficult about it, but at 2:30 in the morning, whispering on the telephone to Peter Sachs, I got Movabletype configured on my server! Now, I can run a blog for me and a blog for the WTNH Weather Department. The same install will handle both separately. Best of all, it’s all free.

This program is very powerful with lots of customizations. Of course, I worry I’ll customize it into not working!

As it turns out, my original formatting, with photos two across, caused the blog to be out of format with a screen resolution of 1024×768 or less. It’s fixed now… I think.