Gary Bimonte, at right, demonstrating his pie chops for a 2016 airing of Vice Media’s Pizza Show
Gary Bimonte, co-owner of Wooster Square’s legendary Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana, died Wednesday night after a heart attack, police reported.
Gary Bimonte on Wooster Street.
Bimonte was the grandson of Frank Pepe, who founded the coal-fired brick-oven pizza establishment in 1925 and claimed to have invented pizza. The restaurant became one of New Haven’s trademark destinations, for locals and regional fans who waited an hour or longer in line for a table, to visiting dignitaries celebrities (including vegan former President Bill Clinton). Its thin, crispy and chewy crust spawned imitators but, in the view of loyals, no peers.
The producers of a documentary about New Haven apizza (ah-BEETS), Pizza: Love Story, reported the death on Facebook, calling it “a sad day for New Haven.”
“Gary Bimonte, or Mr B, lived a life immersed in pizza and family, raised at Pepe’s and most of his early years spent making millions of pizzas, feeding New Haven and by proxy the rest of the world. While Gary had no children of his own, his caring, considerate nature was a gift to all kids. Always generous with pizza & wisdom, Gary’s heart was in the right place. A friend for life and one of the pizza worlds greats, Gary can Rest In Peace with his legacy and life work living on for all to share,” Colin Caplan, one of the producers of the documentary, stated in an email message.
Under Bimonte, Pepe’s branched out to 12 locations in Connecticut Massachusetts, New York, and Rhode Island.
His death comes as Connecticut’s legislature appears poised to name as the official state food the nationally-recognized cuisine Bimonte’s family spawned on Wooster Street.
Blogger “DFANew Haven” noted in a tweet Thursday that a fledgling Facebook campaign to boycott Pepe’s in 2020 over Bimonte’s support of President Donald Trump “never gained traction… because in New Haven hatred of Trump is strong, but love of apizza is stronger.” Even liberal Democrats like Mayor Toni Harp and U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy came to the defense of Bimonte’s free-speech rights.
Current New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker issued a statement Thursday offering condolences to Bimonte’s family: “Their cultural contributions have a lasting impact on our nation’s culinary history. We will always remember Gary for the love he had for this City, his employees, and his family.”
Information about funeral plans and Bimonte’s obituary were not immediately available. He collapsed at his home in Wallingford, according to police.
Markeshia Ricks Photo
Bill Clinton pops in to Pepe’s in 2016.