On a recent weekday, two pallets of French stones sat out back of the former Seven nightclub in downtown Bend. They might not look like much now, but soon, they'll be pieced together to make the oven that will turn countless discs of dough into the Neapolitan-style, wood-fired pizzas that have made Ken's Artisan Pizza into a world-renowned institution.
You read that right: Ken's Artisan Pizza, a juggernaut of pizza in the Rose City, is setting up a second location in downtown Bend.
Ken's has seen plenty of success since its founder, Ken Forkish, opened the place in 2006. But when the Italy-based company 50 Top Pizza began to name it among the best pizzerias in the U.S., and then the world, that reputation only multiplied. Ken's Artisan Pizza was named the #5 pizzeria in the U.S. this June. The year before that, in 2023, it was named #3 in the U.S. and 18th best pizzeria in the world.
Ideally, by November, owner Peter Kost, who took over Ken's Artisan Pizza in 2022, will open the doors of the space that for years served as a late-night space for the downtown crowd. Where once there were neon signs and drop ceilings, there's now an expansive space with the type of plaster-lined walls that already make it look like a historic pizzeria in Napoli. The idea is to bring back some of the history of the Downing Building, built in 1920 and, according to its owner, designed to be the most elaborate commercial building in Bend, which is now on the National Register of Historic Places.
The south storefront will house Ken's; in the north storefront, Americana Burger will open its first brick-and-mortar burger bar — an exhilarating process, Americana owner Jo Franco told me in April, when the burger cart earned our Best Food Cart designation in the Source Weekly's Restaurant Guide.
Upstairs, building owner Mikel Lomsky — who also owns The Podski food cart lot — plans to turn the current apartments into a small hotel called The Downing Continental Hotel, he told the Source Weekly.
Those who have visited Ken's in Portland — as I have, many indulgent times — will know what the fuss is all about: 12-inch pies, made with fresh, house-made mozzarella and topped with ingredients the chefs glean from the farmers market. What makes them special, Kost says, is not really the toppings, though.
"We use a slow-fermented sourdough starter in our pizza dough," Kost told the Source Weekly, adding that they've played with the dough recipe a number of times to get what they hope is "just right." "It's more about the practice of how you manipulate the dough from beginning to end. In other words, it's not just the recipe. The recipe — a lot of people make it, it's probably pretty close in terms of proportions that are added to it. It's more about the practice of how we manipulate the dough," he said.
"In the traditional style, the ingredients are more sparse on purpose," Kost said. "The dough is really the featured item. And that's what we want it to be — everything else is to help complement the dough. When you go into a pizzeria, the first thing to try and do is just break apart some of the crust and try that."
Kost says he chose Bend for a second location of Ken's because, well, like lots of people who live in the Portland metro, he likes coming to Central Oregon and wanted to find a way to spend more time in the area. And, rather than opening a second location in the Portland metro, as many have suggested he do, Kost said he wanted the original Ken's to continue to stand on its own.
"I didn't want to diminish the quality and the nature of the space... I wanted to do another one because I feel like it should be shared," Kost said. "There have been a lot of offers to do Vancouver... do it in Lake Oswego... And I think that all diminishes the incredible space that's already there. And this, in a way, doesn't. It creates a new one on its own, but with a community that is very similar."
The Bend Ken's will have many similarities to the original, of course. A chef has been training under current Chef Vince Krone for a year to helm the new space. Several other employees will move to Bend to staff it. Wine and select cocktails will be on offer. The number of seats in the Bend space will be similar to the Portland numbers. Italian flour will make up the dough. And the pies will be all wood-fired, baked in that French stone Le Panyol bread oven, with a focus on local ingredients whenever possible.
As he gets ready for a hopeful November opening, Kost sums up the vibe of the place this way: "Quality first, local whenever possible."
