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Started By
Message
TulaneLSU's review of Ken's Artisan Pizza of Portland
Posted on 8/31/23 at 12:07 am
Posted on 8/31/23 at 12:07 am
Friends,
Tonight I find myself in Portland, OR, a city far from my heart. It is such a confusing place, and I do not understand it in the least bit. Most people I have encountered this evening have been what you might say countercultural. But at some point, if everyone around you looks and acts the same, with tattoos, piercings, and Earth colored clothes are you original?
It has been an exhausting day. Before 7 PM tonight, I had not eaten anything since my 16oz bison NY strip at the Crater Lake Lodge, which for some reason there are doubters as to the veracity of such a story. It seems that every time someone doubts the truth of my words I am forced to use photos. Please excuse the blurriness, as I was exhausted then as well and forgot my flash upstairs.
Today started at 2 in the morning when my jetlag woke me up again. It was quite cold by the time I made it to the rental car. My thermostat said 34, and that was at 7,000 feet. There was again ice on the roof, something I could scarcely imagine existing after the summer we have experienced.
I did not leave the Lodge until 5, as I was reading. Making good time along the Eastern Rim Road, I made it to Mount Scott around 5:35, parked and quickly went on my way in the moonlight. The air was clear there; the smoke had cleared. One nice thing about the Apple weather app is that when there are fires around, it gives you air quality maps. Our quality was 36 this morning, whereas at Mount Shasta, which was my planned summit, was at 112. To climb in such poor air is a threat, so I canceled my Shasta plans, as detailed yesterday.
Summiting Scott, the highest point in Crater Lake at around 9000 feet was not terribly hard. I think it was a five mile hike with 1300’ gain. It took 55 minutes to summit, and at the top I was greeted with a beautiful sunrise and overlook of the lake. Temperatures were much colder there and the wind was whipping out of the NW around 35 mph. I was grateful Mother packed my Pendleton ear muffs.
Time was pressed, so I rushed back to the Lodge and showered and checked out before heading over to Cleetwood Cove Trail to see if there was any availability on one of the Crater Lake tour boats. The lady at the shed said there was not, but I decided to go down the trail anyway and sure enough, they had tickets. The tour was quite lovely and if you have never been to Crater Lake, you must. The water is as cobalt blue as it is 100 miles offshore just beyond the cleanest rip you have ever seen. Today’s visibility was much improved, and the winds laid down for us.
The drive to Portland took about five hours, including a stop to REI to return a hiking helmet I no longer needed, due to the Shasta cancellation. My heart hurts, as that was one of the few Cascade 10,000+ peaks I have not reached, and I had planned on it for the last three months.
My hunger was enormous when I entered Ken’s Artisan Pizza, which has recently been named #2 and #3 pizza in America by two respected pizza sources. The last time I had been in Portland, I tried the heralded Apizza Scholls, which was quite a letdown, so Ken’s needed to do something to convince me that Portland is an actual pizza town.
The wait was nearly one hour, which is not so bad considering I have waited in line more than three hours at Lucali and a half hour at Chuck E Cheese. I got the impression the waitress was not happy about seating a solo diner.
The menu is tempting with five appetizers and about ten different pizzas and a few more desserts. Being so hungry, I checked with my waiter to ensure that both my selections were acceptable in his eyes. Fifteen minutes later, he had a burrata and a mushroom with white sauce on my communal table.
The mushroom pizza ($22) was a truly exceptional work. Mushrooms always add something to a pizza, but these mushrooms were phenomenal. The leoparding was perfect. The dough was the work of a master baker. It was in the 9.0 range. Truly, it was the best mushroom pizza I have ever had.
The burrata ($23) looked marvelous, as you can see. However, the blistering was too much. Several pieces I had to remove some of the char, and this coming from someone who usually orders his pizza well done. Funny how in the foodie world, steaks are acceptable rare and pizza pies well done.
The red sauce was 10/10, some of the best and tangiest red sauce I have ever tried. The burrata was rather flavorless for burrata. The basil was good. Overall, I gave the burrata a 7.0. Had it been cooked appropriately, it would have been in the low 8s.
Tonight I find myself in Portland, OR, a city far from my heart. It is such a confusing place, and I do not understand it in the least bit. Most people I have encountered this evening have been what you might say countercultural. But at some point, if everyone around you looks and acts the same, with tattoos, piercings, and Earth colored clothes are you original?
It has been an exhausting day. Before 7 PM tonight, I had not eaten anything since my 16oz bison NY strip at the Crater Lake Lodge, which for some reason there are doubters as to the veracity of such a story. It seems that every time someone doubts the truth of my words I am forced to use photos. Please excuse the blurriness, as I was exhausted then as well and forgot my flash upstairs.
Today started at 2 in the morning when my jetlag woke me up again. It was quite cold by the time I made it to the rental car. My thermostat said 34, and that was at 7,000 feet. There was again ice on the roof, something I could scarcely imagine existing after the summer we have experienced.
I did not leave the Lodge until 5, as I was reading. Making good time along the Eastern Rim Road, I made it to Mount Scott around 5:35, parked and quickly went on my way in the moonlight. The air was clear there; the smoke had cleared. One nice thing about the Apple weather app is that when there are fires around, it gives you air quality maps. Our quality was 36 this morning, whereas at Mount Shasta, which was my planned summit, was at 112. To climb in such poor air is a threat, so I canceled my Shasta plans, as detailed yesterday.
Summiting Scott, the highest point in Crater Lake at around 9000 feet was not terribly hard. I think it was a five mile hike with 1300’ gain. It took 55 minutes to summit, and at the top I was greeted with a beautiful sunrise and overlook of the lake. Temperatures were much colder there and the wind was whipping out of the NW around 35 mph. I was grateful Mother packed my Pendleton ear muffs.
Time was pressed, so I rushed back to the Lodge and showered and checked out before heading over to Cleetwood Cove Trail to see if there was any availability on one of the Crater Lake tour boats. The lady at the shed said there was not, but I decided to go down the trail anyway and sure enough, they had tickets. The tour was quite lovely and if you have never been to Crater Lake, you must. The water is as cobalt blue as it is 100 miles offshore just beyond the cleanest rip you have ever seen. Today’s visibility was much improved, and the winds laid down for us.
The drive to Portland took about five hours, including a stop to REI to return a hiking helmet I no longer needed, due to the Shasta cancellation. My heart hurts, as that was one of the few Cascade 10,000+ peaks I have not reached, and I had planned on it for the last three months.
My hunger was enormous when I entered Ken’s Artisan Pizza, which has recently been named #2 and #3 pizza in America by two respected pizza sources. The last time I had been in Portland, I tried the heralded Apizza Scholls, which was quite a letdown, so Ken’s needed to do something to convince me that Portland is an actual pizza town.
The wait was nearly one hour, which is not so bad considering I have waited in line more than three hours at Lucali and a half hour at Chuck E Cheese. I got the impression the waitress was not happy about seating a solo diner.
The menu is tempting with five appetizers and about ten different pizzas and a few more desserts. Being so hungry, I checked with my waiter to ensure that both my selections were acceptable in his eyes. Fifteen minutes later, he had a burrata and a mushroom with white sauce on my communal table.
The mushroom pizza ($22) was a truly exceptional work. Mushrooms always add something to a pizza, but these mushrooms were phenomenal. The leoparding was perfect. The dough was the work of a master baker. It was in the 9.0 range. Truly, it was the best mushroom pizza I have ever had.
The burrata ($23) looked marvelous, as you can see. However, the blistering was too much. Several pieces I had to remove some of the char, and this coming from someone who usually orders his pizza well done. Funny how in the foodie world, steaks are acceptable rare and pizza pies well done.
The red sauce was 10/10, some of the best and tangiest red sauce I have ever tried. The burrata was rather flavorless for burrata. The basil was good. Overall, I gave the burrata a 7.0. Had it been cooked appropriately, it would have been in the low 8s.
This post was edited on 8/31/23 at 12:08 am
2
Posted on 8/31/23 at 12:07 am to TulaneLSU
After the meal, I discussed my ratings with the now famous pizzaiola, Vince Krone. Even though he was quite busy moving pies in the beautiful wood-fired oven, he graciously paused for a few minutes to talk with me.
He mentioned how long they rest their dough, which was much less than I expected. He has followed famed Ken Forkish’s, whose books on pizza baking are for many the standard, practice. They use a wood-fired Le Panyol oven. I forgot to ask if they use Stanislaus, Bianco DiNapoli or imported Italian tomatoes for the sauce.
When he learned I was from New Orleans the first thing he said was, “What do you think about Pizza Delicious? I met them in NY. Nice guys.”
I responded, “Pizza Delicious is the most average NY style pizza I have ever had. It is not bad, but it is not good either. If you want a New Orleans style pizza, you should go to Tower of Pizza. Next time you’re in New Orleans, let me know and I will take you there.”
Wanting to try one more Portland pizza restaurant I asked him which he would choose between Lovely’s Fifty Fifty and Nostrana. He said Fifty Fifty, so I headed over there, a 15 minute drive. Fifty Fifty comes from the owner’s first restaurant where they sold half pizza, half ice cream. There was a steady stream of ice cream eaters while I was there.
The hostess at Lovely’s Fifty Fifty was not very lovely. I found her rather unhelpful. A table for one sat empty, while she told me it would be 45 minutes. I opted to order to go with what is called the cherry tomato confit with shaved summer squash, basil, orange agrumato and flowers. At $29, it rivals the most expensive pizzas anywhere.
The wait was only ten minutes. I asked the hostess if I could take pictures of the restaurant, and she said no, so I have very few for you. Right around the corner I did see this building that may or may not be associated with TD’s Political Talk.
Eating in a car is hardly desirable and it is a rather uncouth thing to do, but there I was, eating a squash and flower covered $30 pizza. My first slice was really bad: greasy with toppings that overwhelmed the dough, causing it to become soggy. The second slice somehow did not suffer the same fate, and it was pretty good. The dough was really nice. Still, though, the pie was inconsistent and did not taste very much like pizza to me. I would say around a 6.8.
My eyelids are drooping now, so I better sign off. It is off to Olympia National Park, with some of the suggestions from our dear friend cgrand guiding my way.
Sincerely,
TulaneLSU
TulaneLSU's top 10 movies currently for rent at Blockbuster
He mentioned how long they rest their dough, which was much less than I expected. He has followed famed Ken Forkish’s, whose books on pizza baking are for many the standard, practice. They use a wood-fired Le Panyol oven. I forgot to ask if they use Stanislaus, Bianco DiNapoli or imported Italian tomatoes for the sauce.
When he learned I was from New Orleans the first thing he said was, “What do you think about Pizza Delicious? I met them in NY. Nice guys.”
I responded, “Pizza Delicious is the most average NY style pizza I have ever had. It is not bad, but it is not good either. If you want a New Orleans style pizza, you should go to Tower of Pizza. Next time you’re in New Orleans, let me know and I will take you there.”
Wanting to try one more Portland pizza restaurant I asked him which he would choose between Lovely’s Fifty Fifty and Nostrana. He said Fifty Fifty, so I headed over there, a 15 minute drive. Fifty Fifty comes from the owner’s first restaurant where they sold half pizza, half ice cream. There was a steady stream of ice cream eaters while I was there.
The hostess at Lovely’s Fifty Fifty was not very lovely. I found her rather unhelpful. A table for one sat empty, while she told me it would be 45 minutes. I opted to order to go with what is called the cherry tomato confit with shaved summer squash, basil, orange agrumato and flowers. At $29, it rivals the most expensive pizzas anywhere.
The wait was only ten minutes. I asked the hostess if I could take pictures of the restaurant, and she said no, so I have very few for you. Right around the corner I did see this building that may or may not be associated with TD’s Political Talk.
Eating in a car is hardly desirable and it is a rather uncouth thing to do, but there I was, eating a squash and flower covered $30 pizza. My first slice was really bad: greasy with toppings that overwhelmed the dough, causing it to become soggy. The second slice somehow did not suffer the same fate, and it was pretty good. The dough was really nice. Still, though, the pie was inconsistent and did not taste very much like pizza to me. I would say around a 6.8.
My eyelids are drooping now, so I better sign off. It is off to Olympia National Park, with some of the suggestions from our dear friend cgrand guiding my way.
Sincerely,
TulaneLSU
TulaneLSU's top 10 movies currently for rent at Blockbuster
This post was edited on 8/31/23 at 12:10 am
Posted on 8/31/23 at 5:55 am to TulaneLSU
Bonanza worthy grill marks on that steak. 
Posted on 8/31/23 at 6:04 am to TulaneLSU
who orders new york strip. yikes
Posted on 8/31/23 at 6:11 am to Jerrysworld
Friend,
I did. If you have ever dined in one of the NPS lodges, you know that dining options are very limited. The lodge is about two hours away from the closest grocery store if that gives you an idea on how isolated it is.
There were only five entrees available: regular NY strip, chicken medallions, a pasta dish, and steelhead trout. The bison was a nightly special. I would have much preferred a sirloin or filet. That reminds me: my first morning in Seattle I was walking downtown and came across a Ruth’s in a hotel, The Hyatt maybe. They were serving breakfast starting at 630. I have never had breakfast at a Ruth’s so I pressed on the hotel lobby buzzer for entrance as I was not staying there. I waited seven rings without an answer and carried on to see if Sushi Kashiba had a sushi breakfast. They don’t. But a Ruth’s breakfast sounded great.
Ken’s uses a mezzaluna for cuts and 50-50 used a wheel cutter.
Yours,
TulaneLSU
I did. If you have ever dined in one of the NPS lodges, you know that dining options are very limited. The lodge is about two hours away from the closest grocery store if that gives you an idea on how isolated it is.
There were only five entrees available: regular NY strip, chicken medallions, a pasta dish, and steelhead trout. The bison was a nightly special. I would have much preferred a sirloin or filet. That reminds me: my first morning in Seattle I was walking downtown and came across a Ruth’s in a hotel, The Hyatt maybe. They were serving breakfast starting at 630. I have never had breakfast at a Ruth’s so I pressed on the hotel lobby buzzer for entrance as I was not staying there. I waited seven rings without an answer and carried on to see if Sushi Kashiba had a sushi breakfast. They don’t. But a Ruth’s breakfast sounded great.
Ken’s uses a mezzaluna for cuts and 50-50 used a wheel cutter.
Yours,
TulaneLSU
This post was edited on 8/31/23 at 6:13 am
Posted on 8/31/23 at 8:23 am to TulaneLSU
You truly are a gem.
Part of me would love to know who you really are…but I also hope I never find out.
Part of me would love to know who you really are…but I also hope I never find out.
Posted on 8/31/23 at 8:26 am to TulaneLSU
You creep me TF out. I love it.
Posted on 8/31/23 at 8:33 am to TulaneLSU
quote:
He mentioned how long they rest their dough, which was much less than I expected.
Posted on 8/31/23 at 10:02 am to TulaneLSU
Kens Pizza is great, we always hit it when we are in Portland. He had a place called Trifecta that was more farm to table and was amazing as well. Alas, Ken has retired and sold all his places off
This post was edited on 8/31/23 at 12:14 pm
Posted on 8/31/23 at 7:16 pm to Zappas Stache
Maybe 10 years ago, Ken showed up to my house with a friend for a crawfish boil. Delightful guy and he sent me a copy of his book as a thank you. Had a chance to have dinner with him in Portland couple years ago. Good to hear he got a chance to step away.
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