Best Pizza Shop Serves Up Detroit-Style Pies In New Canaan

NEW CANAAN, CT — When John Parlatore decided to open Best Pizza Shop in New Canaan, he was excited about the prospect of bringing something unique to the hallowed Connecticut pizza scene: light and crispy Detroit-style pies.

Since opening at 62 Main Street in mid-November, Parlatore said customers have been eager to try his cheesy, square-shaped pizzas that stand out in an area mostly dominated by New York and New Haven-style pies.

Parlatore, the restaurant's owner and chef, originally opened Best Pizza Shop in the Queens area of New York City in 2019, however he soon decided New Canaan offered the chance to bring something new to the Fairfield County pizza scene.

"Connecticut is really known for New Haven-style pizza and bar pies, so really thin pizza," Parlatore said to Patch. "We wanted to offer an alternative to that."

Parlatore describes Detroit-style as a square pan pie made with fermented dough featuring a three-cheese blend on top that is diced, not shredded, consisting of provolone, mozzarella and white cheddar.

"We pre-bake the dough, then top it with the cheese," Parlatore said, "and what it does is the cheese forms an edge around the pan and it gets really crispy...and it becomes this really crispy, cheesy crust."

Each Detroit pie also comes with a unique combination of toppings, such as the "Hot Chick" featuring crispy buffalo chicken, banana peppers, mozzarella and béchamel, or the "Papa Yo" with béchamel, charred potato, caramelized onion and fontina.

"It's just a little more unique type of pie," Parlatore said. "The crust, a lot of times, is like a throw-away for people, but since our crust is the cheese...it kind of makes it totally unique."

Customers looking for a more classic type of pizza need not worry, as Best Pizza Shop also offers a selection of New York pies, as well as burgers, sandwiches, salads and pasta dishes.

Each pizza also comes with a choice of dipping sauce on the side, such as honey sriracha or pesto.

"We didn't just want to serve slices," Parlatore said. "We wanted to be able to serve something that was a little bit more substantial with care behind it. That's what we're trying to do, even though we do serve slices. We wanted to give customers something that was taken care of a little bit more."

Parlatore also emphasized the difference between Detroit and Chicago-style pizzas, the latter of which is often thick with a soft, cake-like dough.

"[Chicago-style] is very much a fork and knife type of deal," Parlatore said. "This is very crispy and very light, whereas I would say Chicago-style is very dense. Our stuff is really light and we put the sauce on after its cooked."

Though it has only been open for a couple of months, New Canaan residents have already responded enthusiastically to Best Pizza Shop's unique menu and atmosphere.

"It's been fantastic," Parlatore said. "It's been everything we could have imagined and more. The town has really supported us, come out and seem to be interested in trying something new."