We went to the new De Lorenzo’s tonight. It was good, but not great. The problem was the crust was just a bit thicker than usual and this makes a difference. Now I had a long talk with Sam. He’s the grandson and he is a real pizza master, but Sam wasn’t making the pizzas. Thursday is his night off, so he was only there as a manager. The one time I went to the old place and he wasn’t there, it was just like tonight. Slightly disappointing. Still great but not the masterpiece it can be.

The new place was mobbed. It took us 35 minutes to get a table…

Don’t get me wrong. What I had tonight was up in the top rung, but not even close to what their best is. I haven’t been to the other classic places enough to know if there is a comparable difference. We do feel that “The Spot” is better than the regular Pepe’s. But is it because of the oven? Or whomever is in charge? And the difference is much more nebulous. Everytime I’ve been to De Lorenzo’s when Sam was in charge of the pizza it was perfection. Without him, top quality but not nirvana.

Related Posts

1. De Lorenzo’s Tomato Pies – Robbinsville, NJ – Thursday, May 22, 2008
2. 
   De Lorenzo’s Tomato Pies – Trenton, NJ vs. Robbinsville, NJ – June 6, 2008
3. De Lorenzo’s Tomato Pies – Robbinsville, NJ – June 30, 2009
4. De Lorenzo’s Tomato Pies – Trenton, NJ – Saturday, July 14, 2007
5. The Spot – New Haven, CT – Saturday, April 19, 2008

This entry is filed under Dispatches.