Local Pizza Restaurants Battle It Out

For the third straight year, the hosted Pizza Wars in conjunction with the with local pizzeria bringing their specialty pizzas for a blind tasting and vote.

took home the title in 2009 and 2010, but this year, knocked Abate’s out of the top spot with its Quattro Formaggio pie.

“As a small family business, we are elated that we won this year's North Branford Pizza Wars,” said Lorinne Sekban, whose husband Sefa, a licensed chef who received his degree from the Connecticut Culinary Institute in Newington, creates the specialty pizza combinations.

Quattro Formaggio is one of Oregano’s more popular specialty pizzas. In addition to the ‘four cheeses,’ the white pie is topped with caramelized onions and fresh tomato.

“Apparently the crowd of 400 people that showed up loved it,” said Lorinne.

The Quattro Formaggio is just one of Oregano’s 36 specialty pizzas on the menu with traditional pies to choose from as well. While the pizza menu is extensive, the Sekban’s also offer a wide variety of sandwiches, wraps and dinner items along with a quickly expanding catering menu.

Oregano’s will celebrate its five-year anniversary in North Branford this year. Prior to Oregano’s, Sefa Sekban owned Homestead Restaurant in Wallingford.

“Our family is very proud of us,” said Lorinne. “There was a lot of planning and preparation involved and we’ve had a lot of well-wishers and people calling congratulating us. We want to thank everyone for their votes.”