Portland pizzeria named one of world’s best by Italian pizza group

An Italian pizza organization picked a Portland restaurant as the 19th best pizzeria in the world at a ceremony last week in Naples, Italy.

Ken’s Artisan Pizza, 304 S.E. 28th Ave., had previously been named as the third best pizzeria in the United States by the group, 50 Top Pizza, making it automatically eligible for the world’s best guide for 2023. Owner Peter Kost, chef Vince Krone and retired founder Ken Forkish attended the ceremony Sept. 13 at Naples’ centuries-old Palazzo Reale.

50 Top Pizza had previously telegraphed that the top 15 spots on its American pizza guide had the inside track to make the world-wide list, making Ken’s a near lock to become the first Portland pizzeria to be ranked among the 50 Top Pizza’s global guide. Two other Portland pizzerias from the American guide, Apizza Scholls at 4741 S.E. Hawthorne Blvd. and Nostrana at 1401 S.E. Morrison St., did not crack the world’s best list.

On social media, Forkish wrote that while he might be retired to Hawaii, as the restaurant’s founder and owner for 16 years, he gets to “enjoy a few victory laps,” calling the awards show a “thrill.”

The 50 Top Pizza organization, which skews heavily toward Italian pizzerias and Neapolitan-style pizzerias around the world, claims that the rankings come from “inspectors who collaborate with this project,” evaluating pizzerias anonymously. Pizza quality, wine and beer lists and customer service are all taken into account.

In a move seemingly designed to annoy former sports clerks (raises hand) or rational people generally, the group chose to name two restaurants, Naples’ 10 Diego Vitagliano and Caserta’s I Masanielli, in a tie for the No. 1 spot. Then, instead of calling its third pick No. 3, named New York City’s Una Pizza Napoletana, the highest ranking American, as the No. 2 instead. In a cascading effect, this meant the 12th pick, New Jersey’s Razza Pizza Artiginale, sits at No. 11, while 19th pick Ken’s is at No. 18. And it’s how an organization called 50 Top Pizza, which already confusingly names 100 restaurants to its annual guide, managed to release a top 101 this year.)

— Michael Russell; mrussell@oregonian.com

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