Chef Alan Maniscalco, who in 2006 helped open one of Portland’s most popular pizza restaurants, Ken’s Artisan Pizza, is on the verge of opening a new family-friendly restaurant in Vancouver.
Maniscalco and Shan Wickham are the husband and wife duo behind Rally Pizza, an ingredient-driven Neapolitan style pizzeria, located at 8070 E Mill Plain Blvd. in The Mill retail center.
The pair was drawn to Vancouver, Maniscalco said, because he and his wife wanted to open a restaurant in more of a suburban setting, and the suburbs of Portland have “a knowledgeable food base, just not as many quality restaurants. Things are more chain-based.”
“[Vancouver] was just a really good fit for us,” he added. “Once we started working here and setting things up, we realized how agreeable everyone has been about having something new and different. Everyone has been really excited about what we’re planning on doing.”
A 20-year veteran of the food service industry, Maniscalco plans to utilize organic ingredients and make nearly everything in-house, including hand-pulled mozzarella, ricotta, smoked meats, sauces, preserved chilies and more.
“We know our purveyors and we’re buying as much as we can from farmers,” Maniscalco explained, “but i think the key for us is going beyond the local, sustainable and organic, and really just focusing on the actual preparation of those ingredients… it’s a commitment to producing as much in-house as we possibly can.”
In addition to pizza, Wickham said the restaurant will specialize in rich, decadent vanilla frozen custard ‘concretes’ and sundaes.
Vanilla sundae menu items include the “Salty/Sweet” (salty candied hazelnuts and almonds, butterscotch, malted milk crunch), “Clouds in my coffee” (chocolate-coffee pudding, mocha sauce, chocolate pearls) and “Campfire” (graham cookie crumbles, chocolate fudge sauce, gooey burnt marshmallow).
Additionally, Rally Pizza will offer a selection of Northwest wine, beer and spirits, and a walk-up counter for to-go orders.
Speaking of beer and wine, Rally Pizza is located two storefronts down from Ben’s Bottle Shop. Sandwiched in between the two businesses is another soon-to-open restaurant led by a Portland Chef, Smokehouse Provisions.
Having the three businesses grouped together, Maniscalco said, will be a great thing for the community.
“We’re in this nice little pocket where there’s a lot of homes, a lot of businesses, the hospital and schools,” he said. “All of us are thinking we will be an asset to the neighborhood.”
Rally Pizza opens on Monday, September 26.
