New Haven apizza isn’t just having a “moment” in America’s pizza conversation. It’s been more like a banner year for the Connecticut city’s trademark style. The latest milestone: a new exhibit celebrating apizza’s fabled history and lore, opening on Thursday, October 9, at the New Haven Museum.
The exhibit, titled “Pronounced Ah-Beetz,” will feature local treasures like Frank Pepe’s original hat and celebrity-signed pizza boxes (think Yogi Berra and Gwyneth Paltrow) as well as a fully immersive dive into the New Haven apizza experience, organizers said. And, naturally, ticket prices will includes slices from legendary spots like Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana, Sally’s Apizza and Modern Apizza. (Click here for tickets.)
“Pronounced Ah-Beetz” will examine the fun, flavor and history of pizza, including its origin as an affordable means of feeding workers in the fields of Italy, and how it became the food of the poor—and, eventually, everyone else—in the U.S. The Italian migration to New Haven spawned Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana, which gave birth to Sally’s Apizza, while a mile away Tony’s Apizza became Modern Apizza. How these three establishments earned recognition as some of the country’s most iconic pizza restaurants will be a major focus.
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While the exhibit will highlight the “Big 3” original apizza spots in New Haven, it will also extend through the family tree of New Haven pizzerias to present a picture of family, food and community that includes a host of other local pizzerias like Ernie’s, Zuppardi’s, BAR, Zeneli’s, Olde World, and the Big Green Pizza Truck, among others.
“Pronounced Ah-Beetz” is co-curated by Jason Bischoff-Wurstle, director of photo archives at the New Haven Museum, and Gorman Bechard, Dean Falcone and Colin M. Caplan, the producing team behind the documentary, Pizza: A Love Story.
Bechard has directed more than 20 feature films and written five novels. Falcone is a musician/composer who lured many of his famous friends to appear in the documentary. He has scored numerous films and played with the likes of Aimee Mann, Norah Jones, Neko Case, Eddie Vedder, and others.
Caplan, meanwhile, is the author of Pizza in New Haven, owner of Taste of New Haven and organizer of the yearly Apizza Feast. Earlier this month, he spearheaded an event that set a new Guinness World Record for the world’s largest pizza party in New Haven.
Related: New Haven Shatters Record for World’s Largest Pizza Party: ‘We Challenge Anyone to Take Us Out,’ Mayor Says
Bechard notes that “Pronounced Ah-Beetz” evolved as interest in New Haven’s pizza style has grown dramatically over the past decade. He described Caplan as the “brain trust” for the history of pizza in the Elm City. “The seeds for this exhibit took root back in 2009, when Dean and I began work on the documentary,” Bechard said, “Once we brought Colin into the mix everything came together.”
Following a trip to Washington D.C., where New Haven was proclaimed “Pizza Capital of the U.S.” by U.S. Representative Rosa DeLauro, Caplan, Bechard and Falcone obtained first-hand oral histories and apizza-related artifacts from personal collections. Combining video footage adapted from the documentary with vintage artifacts and photographs, Bechard said, “We plan to fully immerse viewers into replicas of the ‘Big 3’ pizzerias, complete with a very realistic brick oven. We’ll also incorporate short histories of Foxon Park Soda and some of the beer served locally.”
The exhibit’s title, “Pronounced Ah-Beetz,” comes from the way many people mispronounce the word apizza, which originally grew out of the Italian “la pizza.” The exhibit will remain on view through October 2027.
Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana turned 100 in June of this year, sparking a variety of tributes to New Haven apizza led by artists, performers and the state of Connecticut itself. In June, New Haven’s A Broken Umbrella Theatre staged a production called Family Business: (A)Pizza Play that ran for three weeks.
In February New Haven unveiled an interactive 9’x6’ fine-art piece made entirely from Connecticut highway signs and designed by artist Michael Pollack of the New Haven Pizza Club. Pollack also custom-designed three pairs of Nike Air Jordan 1’s featuring Connecticut-inspired elements, which went on display at Sneaker Junkies before being auctioned off in June to raise money for the Feeding Families Foundation.
Also in February, Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont announced the creation of the Pizza Capital Trail, a collection of the state’s top pizzerias as determined by public voting and a panel of food experts. The trail will be introduced in a two-day event taking place in New Haven on Wednesday, October 1.
