The intersection of Brown and Wooster Streets in New Haven is now marked by a shiny, new sign which reads “Frank and Filomena Pepe Corner.”
Members of the Pepe family joined state and local leaders in New Haven’s iconic Wooster Street neighborhood Friday to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the ever-popular Frank Pepe’s Pizzeria Napoletana. They marked the milestone with a street corner dedication ceremony.
New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker was first to speak at the event. Elicker remarked that Frank Pepe's “put New Haven on the map,” and boasted Frank and his wife Filomena’s story as the model of the American dream.
“Frank and Filomena Pepe’s story – immigrating from Italy to the United States – is a common story of so many New Haveners,” Elicker said. “When they were young and opening the pizzeria exactly 100 years ago, [the Pepes] [embodied] the American Dream, the American Story, and the rich immigrant heritage not only of the United States, but of New Haven.”
Wooster Street is home to several famous pizzerias, which are perennially listed in food guides as the best pizza spots in America.
Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro, who grew up in the Wooster Square neighborhood, also gave a heartfelt speech about her experiences on Wooster Street, and how food continues to define the New Haven community.
“New Haven is the community that it is today because of the friendships and family ties that have [been] built and strengthened over tables right here,” DeLauro said.
DeLauro also highlighted the many other pizzerias and Italian restaurants around New Haven, which number more than 60. She elaborated that the dedication stands not only as a monument to Frank Pepe’s, but for the cultural impact of New Haven pizza as a whole.
DeLauro, who co-chairs the Italian American Congressional Delegation, worked with Alder Ellen Cupo to create the dedication. The proposal was unanimously approved by the city’s Board of Alders.
Frank Pepe’s was founded on June 16, 1925. It opened its second location in 2006 in Fairfield. Since then, the restaurant has rapidly expanded to a network of 17 locations, a pizza empire stretching all the way from Massachusetts to Florida.
Jennifer Bimonte Kelly, granddaughter of the late Frank Pepe, gave a tender speech. Bimonte Kelly shared an anecdote about a stranger who approached her on the street to thank her for her family’s contributions to local culture.
“I was taken back the other day when someone came up to me and said, ‘Thank you for sharing Pepe’s with Connecticut," Bimonte Kelly said. “Because, the joy that we feel everytime we walk through those doors of having great pizza, and of knowing that the history was there from when I was growing up, she thanked me, and we cried.”
Elicker opened a pizza box, but instead of a fresh pie inside, it held a proclamation from the city.
“Whereas the City of New Haven is strengthened by the contributions of its family-owned businesses that add to the cultural and economic vitality and diversity of the Elm City,” Elicker said. “Now therefore do I, as Mayor of the City of New Haven, hereby honor Frank Pepe’s Pizzeria Napoletana.”
The sign was then unveiled by Anthony Rosselli, the owner of Pepe’s and the oldest member of the Pepe clan.
In the past year, Gov. Ned Lamont, who spoke briefly at the ceremony, has undertaken a publicity campaign for Connecticut’s pizza, working to create a pizza road map and to design an “apizza” state license plate.
And generations later, the love for Pepe’s has carried on.
“We grew up around this area,” Anastasia Kinnare, one of Frank Pepe’s great-great-granddaughters, said. “There’s photos of us and our mom underneath that sign. And after we ate at Pepe’s, we’d always go over to Libby’s.”
“It’s just their life,” Bimonte Kelly said of her grandchildren. “They’re born into it — a strong family. A strong family of women.”