family & the new pizza tour of new england

One of my favorite yay moments of our trip was visiting my niece in her digs in Worcester, MA.  She is finishing her BA this coming school year and I am very proud of her.  She has always been a self-motivated and curious student, an active go-getter and compassionate soul.  This summer she worked a rebuild mission trip in New Orleans's 9th ward.  I really admire her.  I want to be her when I grow up.  :)

She's also silly as can be.  Look what she taught her youngest cousin:

She took us out to a new organic pizza place in Worcester, Flats.  Their sauce has a simple clean flavor, much like Pepe's in New Haven, CT, the Original pizza place. There is some conflict about whether pizza was "invented" at Pepe's or some other place in NYC, but I maintain it was Pepe's.  Anyway, another pizza we got at Flat's was a pesto, portabello and goat cheese number that if you are ever within a three hour drive of Worcester, is worth the detour.  Deeeeeelissssshhhh!  and the whole wheat crust was to die for.

Another good pizza place we enjoyed on our trip was by her recommendation as well.  Gregory's Pizza in Monroe, CT.  I didn't find a link, and I'm still pooped, so I didn't try very hard.  All the online reviews seemed positive at a glance, though. When we stayed at Big Bro's house, this was what we got for dinner to entertain Honey's brother, sister and brother-in-law.

The thing that struck Honey and me was that even what we used to think was a bad pizza in New England, is still a good pizza where we live now.  I don't want to say that good pizza is part of my nostalgia for New England, but we can only find a halfway decent Phillie style pizza as the best around here. Pizza is just a necessary part of our family experience. 

My children are deprived.

When we stayed with friends in North Cambridge, we convinced them after a hurly burly day to just get pizza in the neighborhood, though they recently (witihin weeks) moved in and hadn't tried Marco's yet. Again, looks like good reviews on the net, but not a website.  The thin crust was excellent, perfectly crispy and chewy.

I have to say, part of the appeal of our annual trips to New England is the search of a good slice.  I wanted to hit a couple of old favorites, or even Pepe's, which is more in my Honey's childhood locale, but I was pleasantly surprised to find three new places - to me anyway - and really enjoyed them.

Sadly, Newbury Pizza, which was a regular good giant cheap slice during my main Boston proper days, is under new ownership.  What used to cost a buck and fill me for the afternoon now costs about five dollars, according to the person with whom many an afternoon slice was had there back when a big cheap slice was often all I ate in a day. Eh, the sauce was always a tad too sweet for my taste anyway.

And that's Cath's new pizza tour of New England, 2010 edition.  Seriously, you have to try Flats if you are ever within a day's ride of Worcester.  It's small, the staff is friendly and the pizza is gorgeous.  Worcester is a pretty happening little old industrial city - culturally, Boston's slightly more boisterous younger sibling.