Modern Apizza - New Haven, CT

Posted by Michael Stern on August 13, 2006

While there are many connoisseurs of pizza who will fight us on this point, we do not believe that Modern Apizza of New Haven serves the best pizza on earth. In our book, it is only the second best on earth, after Pepe’s of New Haven … except on those days when Pepe’s has no clams for its white clam pizza, in which case we will gladly go to eat white clam pizza pie at Modern. Let us say it plainly: Modern Apizza is a fantastic four-star pizza parlor, and if you eat here rather than on Wooster Street, it’s about like winning only $100 million rather than $125 million in the Power Ball.

As for the New Haven favorite, white clam pizza (hold the mozzarella, please) Modern uses pre-chopped clams rather than freshly shucked ones, meaning there is less soulful marine juice to infuse the pizza; nevertheless, it is delicious – ocean-sweet and powerfully garlicky, and built on a crust that puffs up dry and chewy around the edges, but stays wafer-thin all across the middle. “Our brick oven reaches temperature in excess of 700 degrees,” Modern’s menu warns. “Some pizzas may blacken around the edges, and even lose their perfect shape due to contact with the brick floor of the oven.” Ok with us! While a few places around the edge may be charred, the whole pizza has a swoonfully appetizing smoky taste; and you see why when you devour slices off the paper on which the pizza rests atop its round pan. The paper appears strewn with charred little bits of semolina from the oven floor, most of which cling to the underside of the crust, creating a slightly burnt hot-bread flavor that no wussy metal-floored pizza oven could produce.

Modern’s specialty toppings include broccoli, sliced tomato, artichoke, and clams casino, which is clams, bacon, and peppers. It is also known for the Italian Bomb, which is a joy to eat despite the fact that it totally overwhelms its crust: sausage, pepperoni, bacon, peppers, onions, mushrooms, and garlic. There is also a Vegetarian Bomb topped with spinach, broccoli, olives, peppers, mushrooms, onion, and garlic.

One other reason we love Modern, sometimes even more than our beloved Pepe’s: it is open for lunch!

Overall: Worth driving from anyplace

21 out of 22 people found the review helpful. Was it helpful to you?

Reviewers "Must Eats" List

Sausage & Artichoke Pizza ($13.00)

Pepperoni & Pepper Pizza ($13.00)

Italian bomb ($12.00)

white clam pie ($15.00)

"A shot of the nicely charred, thin crust - a result of Modern's coal burning oven."
JBarry713

"The variety of texture among the many meats on an Italian bomb makes this pizza a true tongue adventure."
Michael Stern

"Although the menu warns that the brick-floored oven can distort the shape of a pizza, Modern's are consistently among the prettiest anywhere."
Michael Stern

"You can get a white clam pie with or without mozzarella. We believe the creamy cheese overwhelms this combo's essential delicacy. This pizza is cheeseless. Look at all those clams! And note also that it is served with lemon wedges on top ... a unique touch."
Michael Stern

"Running at 700 degrees, Modern's brick-floored oven is the source of its pizzas' supreme goodness."
Michael Stern

"Modern is unique among New Haven's great pizzerias in that it is NOT in the old Italian neighborhood on Wooster Street."
Michael Stern

"The small burnt areas of crust around the edge are an essential part of the Modern Apizza experience."
Michael Stern

"These are the little bits of burnt semolina that remain on the serving paper once the slices have been eaten."
Michael Stern

"We ordered a "medium" and thought the kitchen had made a mistake when this broad boy arrived at the table. No, this IS a medium ... but big enough that we took half of it home with us for reheating at lunch today!"
Michael Stern

"Modern's menu warns, "Our brick oven reaches a temperature in excess of 700 degrees. Some pizzas may blacken around the edges and even lose their perfect shape due to contact with the brick floor of the oven." Amen to that! We love the places were the cheese oozes over the edge and the crust turns crunchy-dark."
Michael Stern

"Here's a section of crust that didn't blacken in the oven and didn't get flooded out by a cheese spill. It's chewy, full-flavored, and delicious."
Michael Stern

"No, it's not a perfect, symmetrical pizza and the edges are charred (we asked for this one well-done). But such imperfections only add to the beauty of what we consider one of the world's best pizzas."
Michael Stern