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The New Haven-based landmark — and its seven outposts, including Fairfield and Danbury — have won best-of-the-best accolades from the likes of USA Today, Food & Wine and The Daily Meal for decades.
But how do they keep at the top of the heap with so many other wood- and coal-fired pizza joints nipping at their heels?
To hear Gary Bimonte tell it it’s part finely tuned palate and part keep-your-yap-shut family secrecy.
“It’s a daunting task,” said Bimonte, director of quality assurance and training for the pizza empire begun by his grandfather in 1925. “We don’t put just anything on our pizza. It’s a highly guarded thing.”
To that end, he and cousin Frank Rosselli, Pepe’s co-owners, spent some quality time this fall at a private taste test to see which of the tomato importers vying for their business would be given the honor of adorning their 2017 pies.
Bimonte and Rosselli got together to see, smell, touch and taste select varieties, all of which hail from fine tomato packers on Italy’s Amalfi Coast. It’s a test that happens every year, just after the harvest, because tomatoes can change due to weather and other variables.
Given Pepe’s is known for its red pie — you have to ask for cheese — the taste of the tomatoes is crucial to the reputation, Bimonte said.
Color, the ratio of solids to liquid, the seeds, the thickness — nothing is left to chance.
“You don’t want inconsistencies,” he said. “But we’re cousins. We know exactly the flavor profile we’re looking for.”
This year, six contenders were narrowed down to two front runners, each of which was mixed with Pepe’s other secret ingredients and then baked into sample pies. Once a winner emerged, Pepe’s officially put in its annual order.
And what an order it is. When Pepe’s had only one New Haven location, the business would order about 1,000 cases of canned tomatoes from its vendor. Now the order is 15,000 cases to cover all eight locations, Bimonte said.
In fact, the chosen tomato-packing plant will spend a full two days filling just Pepe’s 2017 order.
So do Frank Pepe’s grandsons really need to work under such a shroud of mystery?
Apparently, so. Workers have actually found competitors going through the dumpsters outside the original location, looking for clues to the pizzeria’s success.
Over the years, Bimonte and Rosselli have tested the water in each location and sought out high-end pepperoni to make sure Pepe’s remains a high-quality pie. The cheese they swear by would cost upwards of $15 a pound on the retail market.
“There’s more and more competition out there,” Bimonte said. “We’ve got to keep on top of our game.”
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