Phantom Gourmet: Frank Pepe Pizzeria In Chestnut Hill

CHESTNUT HILL - What many people believe to be the best pizza in American is now right in our own backyard. Frank Pepe Pizzeria has just opened a brand new location at the Shops at Chestnut Hill, bringing their legendary pizza to hungry Bostonians.

Before we serve up a slice, let's order up a little history. It all started back in the early 1900s when an Italian immigrant named Frank Pepe arrived in America. In 1925 he opened the original Frank Pepe Pizzeria on Wooster Street in New Haven, Connecticut, where a massive coal fired oven baked simple pizzas, topped with tomato sauce and grated cheese.

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Fast forward to today, and there are now nine Frank Pepe Pizzerias in the northeast, with more on the way. Frank's grandson Gary Bimonte oversees them all.

"I love meeting the people. I get a good feeling when they say, 'It's the best pizza I've ever had,' and I hope my grandfather is looking down smiling on us."

So what makes their pizza so good? They use the best possible ingredients, like imported Italian tomatoes; big slices of high quality mozzarella; and fresh shucked clams on their famous white clam pizza. But a lot of what they use is kept secret, like the dough recipe.

One thing that's definitely not hidden is the oven. It's a hulking 52 ton coal fired beast, painstakingly built to the same specifications as the original one back in New Haven, and it really is the star of the show.

"The oven is the centerpiece," Gary said. "We design all of our restaurants so as soon as you walk through the door, you see the oven. That's what cooks your pizza and we want everybody to know that it's a coal fired brick oven, so the crust is charred, crispy, but yet chewy."

Working the oven is serious business. Since it is 14 feet deep, the pizza makers use 16 foot long pizza peels to get the pies in and out. Everyone in the kitchen must know their role, and stick to their assigned spots. It's choreographed chaos.

"It's like a ballet. The guys, they're moving in and out; they're trying not to hit each other. It's a show," Gary described.

To truly judge any pizzeria you start with the basic cheese pizza. Pepe's doesn't do anything typically. It's in the imperfections where the beauty of their pizza truly comes out. There are air pockets and bubbles; some parts are extra crusty; some parts are extra soft in middle. Then there is the signature of the Pepe's pizza: the char on the crust.

The pizza that made Pepe's famous is their white clam pizza. It's so simple; just chopped fresh clams, lots and lots of garlic, little cheese, and a little olive oil.

"I always ask the person, 'If you like clams, you'll love this.' I personally don't like clams, but I love our clam pizza," Gary said. "Something magical happens in the oven and it's just a phenomenal flavor. It's like a symphony in your mouth."

If you want to kick it old school, get the original Tomato Pie. Back in 1925, that is what a Pepe's pizza was. Just crust, some tomato sauce and grated cheese. You just let the coal fired oven do its thing and you end up with simplicity at its finest.

Since the day Pepe's opened in Chestnut Hill, the place has been jam packed. There's a line out the door pretty much every hour of every day. So is it worth the hype and is it worth the wait? Sometimes the best things come to those who wait.

You can find Frank Pepe Pizzeria at the Shops at Chestnut Hill, and online at pepespizza.com.

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