EAST WINDSOR (CT) - How many times have we entered a pie venue, hopeful that this time a great new pizza will be discovered, only to have our hopes dashed and flipped into the dumpster of life? Nondescript pizza shops facades, in general, should remain anonymous. Yet at other moments a bland brick exterior yields hidden treasure.
Midway between Springfield and Hartford on flat tobacco land alongside Rt. 5 by the Connecticut River, pizza people find Henry's Pizzaria (Henry spells Pizzeria on the menu with an e, but with an a on the signs outside).
Don't be fooled. It looks like just-another-retail exterior. Forget any typos... we're here for high-end pie, not a frickin' spelling bee. Besides, using an a in pizzaria has etymological merit when you think about it.
With Henry's 12" small pizza at $8.00, newcomers might next wonder: what is this? Pizza! Pizza! Junk food filler pie? I do not think so. Sitta down and take-a-you time. This place is virtually unknown by the commercial food media critics, despite durable fame dating back 42 years.
Put in your order. White Pizza. Red (my pick) pizza. Three sizes: small, medium at 14" ($10) and large 16" ($12.). They may be playing some Gene Autry cowboy music in the background because that's just the way of these same people who man the pots and pans and have since 1957.
One caveat: Don't go with the oil and vinegar atop your salad, unless you ask to do the pouring yourself: a recent visit brought a nice crisp salad with decent tomatoes on top, fresh Bermuda onion, and plenty olives, but a too vinegary mix was off-putting.
Pour the oil and vinegar yourself. The rolls are warm, by the way, but don't eat 'em... the pie will overwhelm all but the most distended of bellies.
About 25 minutes later (slow delivery but worth the wait!)
out comes the product:
We ordered a small and it was enough for two (and I weigh 195
lbs these days). A medium is recommended if one dinner is especially
hungry.
The pie itself on the 20/20 scale (see Connecticrust #2) rates very high: I give it 16/18 which is pretty near to perfect. It is visually stunning in the classic pizza style.
Big chunks of sausage and sliced tomatoes generously mixed into the mozzarella. Its a red, white and tan affair, cut into small cubes, not wedges. And there is just a lot of food here! Eyeball rating: 16.
The crust is alive with crunch. Given the size and thickness of the pizza, it is surprising to find, under the succulent sauce (which they must use on their many pasta dishes), a very crunchy crust. Crunch!! And slabs of sausage are drained of grease, and laid out in profusion, mixed as they are with the tomatoes. Culinary delivery rating: 18.
Their Pizza Valenciana is another great addition to the quality of life in New England's Pizza Belt: check this out for $10: garlic and olive oil base, roasted peppers, diced tomatoes, eggplant and red sauce, no cheese, no substitutions. Twelve inches of reduced cholesterol pleasures for one Hamilton Reserve Note.
Henry's is open 5 days out of 7, Wednesday through Sunday from noon to 11 p.m. and is dark on Monday and Tuesday. They have beer and basic wine, lemonade for the kids.
Would the intrepid pizza lover drive out onto the flats of East Windsor in search of yet another fine time? Depends on ones commitment to the category. Me, its for real. Been doing a few Henry's since my days as a neo-pizza-phyte back in the early Sixties.
Henry is still worth a drive along the river, out past the lumber and brick yards of South and East Windsor. Maybe you start with a side order of meatball, for a dollar, and maybe you just suck down some vino while Henry gets your pie together.
Either way, no one who knows pie has not made a comeback in over four decades. Ask em about the two spellings, just for a smile.
Tel: 860 623 4020.