Eat Local at Ken’s Artisan Pizza with Spring Ingredients
Posted: Mar 22nd, 08
Housemade charcuterie from mortadella to pancetta tops artisan pizzas and cured meat plate; Wine list offers selections from Oregon, Washington, Italy and France
PORTLAND, Oregon - (March 21, 2008) - Ken’s Artisan Pizza comes as close to the farm as possible with its commitment to using locally grown ingredients. Chef Alan Maniscalco uses his relationships with local farmers to not only choose among a variety of seasonal produce, but also request specific crops grown for the restaurant - from Italian-style peppers and chicory to a seasonal mix of tomatoes. New spring dishes on the menu range from a changing Wood Oven Roasted Vegetable Plate to the house-made charcuterie that shows up in seasonal cured meat plate featuring house-made mortadella and paté. Maniscalco has also added spring ingredients to the pizza list with a seasonal pizza with Roasted Spring Onions, Mozzarella and Grana Padano.
“More than three-quarters of the produce on our menu is sourced from local farms and farmer’s markets,” said chef Alan Maniscalco. “And we use locally grown fruit in our wood-fired oven desserts and sustainable flour from Shepherd’s Grain in our pizza crust.”
House-Cured Charcuterie Highlights Menu
Alan Maniscalco and Joshua Zach, the pizzaiolo, cure a variety of meats in-house for use in a selection of starters, as well as toppings for the individual pizzas. A favorite offering is the seasonal cured meat plate which may feature housemade mortadella with pistachio, rhubarb marmalade and saba or housemade fennel sausage and house-cured pancetta used as toppings for two of the pizzas.
Spring Menu Highlights:
Salads & Starters
Caesar Salad: organic romaine hearts, Grana Padano, garlic thyme croutons
Local Green Salad: carrot and fines herbes vinaigrette, heirloom radishes
Lamb & Pita: Oregon lamb skewers, pita, mint, pine nuts, yogurt sauce
Housemade Mortadella with pistachio, rhubarb marmalade and Saba
Wood oven Roasted Vegetable Plate: (a rotating assortment of seasonal vegetables)
- Broccoli Rabe, garlic, chiles and Pecorino Romano
- Asparagus, green garlic vinaigrette
- Carrots, beets, spring herbs
- Leek and Raclette Crostini
- Fingerling potatoes, sorrel sauce
- Rainbow chard, olive tapenade and pine nuts
Pizzas: 12″ individual pies that serve 1-2 people.
Margherita: tomato sauce, mozzarella, basil
Margherita & Arugula: tomato sauce, mozzarella, topped with arugula
Soppressata: tomato sauce, spicy soppressata, mozzarella, basil
Spring Onion: roasted spring onions, mozzarella, Grana Padano, fresh herbs
Morels, spring wild mushrooms and fontina
Fennel Sausage and Roasted Onions: tomato sauce, mozzarella and basil
Anchovy: tomato sauce, mozzarella, basil, anchovies
Arrabiata: tomato sauce with hot Calabrian chilies, mozzarella, basil
Prosciutto: tomato sauce, mozzarella, basil, Prosciutto di San Daniele
Amatriciana: roasted tomato sauce, house-cured pancetta, red onion and parmesan
Desserts
Rhubarb tart with marscapone gelato
Cornmeal biscuits with strawberries and saba
Plum blossom gelato
Oregon Pinot Noir and Sparkling Wine Featured on Wine List
Owner Ken Forkish offers a unique wine list that includes many of his favorite local and European producers. “Our list is not typical for a pizzeria,” said Forkish. “I wanted it to represent my favorite local wines made by people I know, as well as a good representation of Italian and French food-friendly wines. I also offer higher end wines like Brunello or Barolo at a good value to encourage people to try them.” Some of the local selections include Oregon wines from Cameron, J. Christopher, Chehalem, Grochau Cellars, Patricia Green Cellars, Andrew Rich, and Brickhouse, as well as European selections from Piedmont, Tuscany, Bandol and the Rhone Valley. Forkish has made stemware a priority at the restaurant featuring Reidel glassware and he offers a selection of sparkling wines from Italy and France. “While a wine list this developed is unusual for a pizzeria, it reflects the variety of wines I like to drink that pair well with our food,” said Forkish. “We have a lot of regular customers who share our enthusiasm for a great wine list and we want to continue offering them an exciting selection.”
About Alan Maniscalo, Chef/Partner
Alan Maniscalco arrived at Ken’s Artisan Bakery in May 2003 after opening Stone House Bakery, a wood-fired bakery in Canton, Michigan. A love of cooking seasonally was formed during Alan’s early years in the Bay Area and continues to inspire the menu at Ken’s Artisan Pizza, which opened in July 2006. He also incorporated his passion for wood oven cooking into the design of the pizzeria, insisting on an all wood burning line. “Wood cooking makes some things taste better,” says Alan, who loves the caramel and moist texture of perfectly cooked fingerling potatoes. Alan worked with owner Ken Forkish to design the menu for Ken’s Artisan Pizza and aimed for simplicity and seasonal ingredients. He added the popular trio of roasted seasonal vegetables that complement the individual pizzas. He enjoys experimenting with flavors and ingredients - from cured meats with fruit to prosciutto with pomegranate and persimmon. Alan’s wife, Shan Wickham, also has a role at the pizzeria where she oversees the “sweet” portion of the menu, creating seasonal desserts in the wood-fired oven.
About Ken’s Artisan Pizza
Local and seasonal ingredients, as well as authentic European flavors, stand out on Ken’s menu - from the roasted vegetable plate to the toppings of arugula, fennel sausage, spicy soppressata and caramelized onions found on the 12″ individual pizzas. The pizza crust is made daily using sustainable flour from Shepherd’s Grain in Eastern Washington. Desserts offer seasonal fruit sourced from local farms, including apples, marionberries, tayberries and pears. The central focus of the pizzeria is the wood-fired oven that bakes the pizzas in three minutes at 700 - 800 degrees. Ken sourced the core of the oven from France and turned the assembly over to Timothy Seaton, a third-generation mason from Camas, Washington. Owner Ken Forkish has brought his baking skills to the pizza and has perfected the signature charred edge and the thin and chewy crust. The restaurant’s décor includes wooden tables handcrafted and recycled from a vintage roller coaster, the Big Dipper, found at Jantzen Beach from 1928-1970 and made from old-growth Douglas fir. Ken is also committed to using renewable energy from Portland General Electric both in the pizzeria and the bakery. At the pizzeria, guests can grab a stool at the bar and order a glass of wine from a list of well-priced wines from the Pacific Northwest, Italy, France and Portugal. Ken’s Artisan Pizzeria has been featured nationally in Bon Appetit, The New York Times, and the Food Network and was chosen as one of the “15 Restaurants Changing the Way We Eat” in the November 2006 issue of Portland Monthly and one of the “Top 10 Restaurants in Portland” in the November 2007 issue of Portland Monthly. For more information and a slide show of images from the pizzeria, please visit www.kensartisan.com/pizza.html. Ken’s Artisan Pizza is located at 304 SE 28th Avenue, Portland, OR 97214; 503-517-9951.
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