"It consumes me, and I consume it."
Author and entrepreneur Colin Caplan puts his passion for pizza-- New Haven-style apizza in particular-- behind his answer to the chewy, yet crunchy question consuming the Capitol: whether to name pizza Connecticut's official "state food."
"Connecticut, this is what we do. We do our own style of pizza. It's the most popular food. People travel here and wait in lines for hours to have our pizza. We should be the 'pizza state,'" says Caplan.
Caplan, who helped write the bill making its way around the Capitol, spoke at the (legitimately) world-renowned Modern Apizza on State St., where New Haven officials chose National Pizza Day to rally behind the "state food" effort. Modern is one of the city's "big three," with Sally's and Frank Pepe's, both on Wooster St.
"The water is perfect for making pizza. It's a soft water. It's got the right pH," says Caplan. "You've got just the simplest ingredients-- that's what Italian food is. And, you've got the traditional family recipes, and if you don't change that, then you've really got a masterpiece."
Even beyond the "big three," New Haven is well served. There are about 100 pizza places in a city of about 135,000 people.
"It's a big part of the economy," says Carlos Eyzaguirre, New Haven Deputy Economic Development Administrator. "Folks are always opening up new pizzerias in New Haven that are succeeding... There are places in each corner of the city*... really supporting the economy, increasing the notoriety for pizza and providing jobs for residents in all our neighborhoods."
The rest of Connecticut is also well-covered. By various counts, the state has more pizzerias per person than any other.
A similar bill to name pizza the state food made it through the state House in 2021, but never made the Senate floor.
*some of the other New Haven pizza places mentioned by Eyzaguirre in an interview Thursday:
Ernie's Pizzeria, 1279 Whalley Ave.
Frisco's Pizza, 345 Forbes Ave.
Grand Apizza, 111 Grand Ave.
Next Door, 175 Humphrey St.
