Phil Torre

Sounds like you are referring to Dolphin's Cove Restaurant on Seaview Ave in Bridgeport. I would also recommend Liana's Trattoria in Fairfield. A small family run Italian, with friendly service and excellent food. The ricotta gnocchi are ethereal.

When I was in Portugal, whenever I had Piri-Piri it was made with just olive oil and crushed hot pepper. My wife is Portuguese and her family makes it the same way, although sometimes they put whole small red chilis instead of crushed. However, when I make it I follow this other Piri-Piri recipe from David Leite's site. I don't know if it's authentic, but it sure is good.

John, you are definitely not making too much of your Johnny's experience. Having grown up in Mount Vernon, the standard that I measure any pizza against is Johnny's. It is great to finally see them get some well deserved recognition outside of Mount Vernon. Johnny's pizza is so good it's addictive. I remember once in my younger days, my cousin Sal and I actually had lunch there 5 days in a row. When we walked in on the 5th day, Johnny (who is no longer with us) threw his hands up in the air and yelled, "Is that all you guys eat, Pizza!?" Back then Johnny's was known for it's "soup nazi" type atmosphere almost as much as it's pizza. Since I live in Connecticut now, it has been a while since I have had Johnny's, and this thread has given me a hankering. Next time I go down to visit my parents I will have to make time to stop there. As far as a couple of the other NY area Pizzas mentioned here, Lombardi's is excellent, but I must say I was very disappointed with Grimaldi's. I was only there once and maybe I caught them on an off night, but the crust was limp and undercooked.