Unlike many places, this place DOES live up to all the hype bestowed upon it. Being from Northern Jersey, a trip to Trenton for lunch is not very practical. This place has been on my "to-do" list for the better part of five years. Last month, I read the Roadfood article discussing how this Trenton landmark was set to close it doors forever on January 15, 2012 (http://www.roadfood.com/Digest/445/de-lorenzo-tomato-pies-in-trenton-closing). The time had come, it could not be put off any longer, Time to head for Trenton!
After an almost two hour drive, we arrived at 3pm to a deserted street and an hours sign indicating it opened at 4pm. Since DeLorenzo's does not have a bathroom, and with an hour to kill, we decided to tour the neighborhood in search of one. What we did not expect, however, was to return to DeLorenzo's at 3:45pm, to a mob of people, and a line around the corner! Apparently news had traveled fast about the doors closing forever. We were in good company in the line, good conversations, and the time seemed to pass by rather quickly, but what could have been if we did not leave to find a bathroom.
Two hours later, we finally ventured inside. The restaurant is narrow and long, seating about 50 people, with a small pizza oven, which can only process six pies at a time. After another fifteen minute wait, we finally got a booth. Another fifteen minutes later, we finally placed our order.
A tomato pie is not just a term used in the Trenton area, but is a different means of making a pie than what a pizza is. My booth was right next to the "kitchen" where I could watch every action taken by the pie makers. While waiting for my sausage pie, I must have watched about twenty pies being made, most of them sausage.
The dough is stretched out on a wooden board. Unlike a pizza, the next layer is a sparse amount of mozzarella cheese. Dribbles of the crushed tomato are dropped in several spots along the pie. Sausage is broken into gumball-sized pieces and scattered throughout the pie; enough to provide a nice compliment of flavor to the pie, but not too much as to overpower the pie. More crushed tomato is added to the top. Lastly, what looks like a "watering can" of olive oil, is poured lightly across the top of the pie before it enters the oven. Once the pies emerged from the oven, billowing steam, they are placed on a pizza tray, where they await being cut. Pies are not cut into triangular wedges like traditional pizza, but instead cut once across the diameter, then each half is cut with perpendicular cuts, using a knife rather than a pizza cutter. This results in a pie with many slices of irregular shapes and sizes.
Twenty minutes (what felt like an eternity, even longer than the two hours spent outside) later, our first sausage pie emerged from the oven, steaming hot and bubbling.
The tomato pie was exactly as described in all of the other reviews. The crust is thin, almost cracker-like crunchiness. The sausage is everything the reviews made it out to be: fresh, chunky, and very flavorful. The crushed tomato, without a doubt, is the highlight of the pie. Before the first bite, you can just tell the quality of the tomatoes from their "cherry red" color, like a San Marzano plum tomato, and it very well could be. The tomatoes are of the highest quality and are delicious and sweet without the need for anything to be added to them. This is definitely not a pizza sauce, just pure, crushed tomatoes.
A masterpiece of culinary perfection, the crust, cheese, sausage, and tomato flavors all work together in harmony, with no one flavor overpowering the pie. With many sausage pies, the sausage is the dominant flavor, but with this pie, it is a tomato pie with delicious sausage flavor inter-weaved between the layers. Because of the thin crust, I was able to eat an entire large pie myself, so take that into consideration when ordering. A large will definitely not fully feed two people.
Bottom line: The drive, the waiting outside, the waiting inside, resulted in 5-1/2 hours before finally tasting that first bite. Was it worth all that time and effort, before another two-hour ride home? Absolutely! The only regret was waiting this long before making the trip. Luckily the opinion of the Robbinsville location is that the pies are very close to the pies from this original location, so at least once the original location closes forever, the spirit and flavor will live on.
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Based on Roadfood's recommendation, my wife and I decided to check out De Lorenzo's on a recent trip to visit family in NJ. Trenton was just a few miles out of our way, but thanks to the wonders of Blackberry and Mapquest navigation, we located the place easily and parked right around the corner.
Both my wife and I grew up in Northern NJ (we currently live in Roanoke, VA) and have eaten many pizza pies from neighborhood joints over the years (you wouldn't catch us dead in a chain pizza place), and we looked forward to a great experience.
Roanoke, while a wonderful place to live, isn't exctly what you'd call a hotbed of culinary diversity, so we enjoy researching and taste-testing authentic ethnic restaurants whenever we can. De Lorenzo's is the real deal! Small, local, friendly and offering simply prepared, great tasting pizza.
The crust was perfect: thin, light and crispy. The tomatoes were sweet and complemented the tangy mozzeralla cheese. The olive oil added just the right flavor. It was like the homemade pizza I remember eating at the homes of the Italian kids I grew up with. De Lorenzo's was well worth the detour!
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