Skip to main content"I hit the well," says pizza man Richie Brose when talking about his newest restaurant venture. "That's why my pizza is so good. It's a wishing well."
Richie B., a.k.a. Viper Richie, is the gregarious former namesake of Northwest Portland pizza joint Richie B.'s. After a rocky parting with Richie B.'s owner, Brose spent the past year throwin' pies in his own Seaside restaurant.
Now Brose is speeding golden, thick-crust pizzas and his white Viper GTS-R to what he hopes will become Portland's new Isle of Le Mans. That's the serene farmer's haven of Sauvie Island, where Brose opened Viper Richie's, his flashy pizzeria, on the Fourth of July.
Brose might agree that Sauvie Island isn't the Hamptons, but he won't admit that his new venture might not be on solid ground. After all, if the man who once played Conan the Barbarian at Universal Studios Hollywood can't tame the wilds of Sauvie Island, who can? The actor-turned-restaurateur is hoping the scenic property will develop into a kind of an Eye-talian pit stop for day trippers and classic-car cruise-ins. And who knows? With the Portland pizza following that Brose once enjoyed, it might happen.
But Sauvie Island meets Viperlicious? Come on. Brose admits that hunting-'n'-gathering islanders were skeptical of his pumped-up persona at first, but they've come around since he has started to use their homegrown ingredients. Now, ripe Roma tomatoes, Bermuda onions and basil from neighbors Kruger's Farm Market and Blue Heron Herbary add a fresh charge to his hefty slices--making those pies truly worth the extra mileage.
And that special water? Brose says using H2O from Sauvie's mineral-enriched wells, coupled with the restaurant's all-brick oven, have amped up the texture and flavor of his flaky-yet-spongy pizza crust.
Still, leadfoots might want to drive out for a taste test soon. Who knows when this Viper could run out of gas?
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Courtesy of a jittery WW staffer, we've learned that a door-to-door coffee service, Candie's Coffee (274-9894, www.candiescoffee.com), wants to fill your morning mug. For $2.25 a day, bean junkies can wake up to a hot buzz of fresh Organic Peruvian delivered in a vacuum-sealed Thermos right to their stoop--in theory. Candie's Coffee started test-brewing a month ago and has yet to perfect its drop-off system. Your bleary-eyed Bite Clubber signed up for her own front-door fix last week--which brings the official customer count up to two households so far.
Join the Bite Club. Send your tastiest nibbles to kclarke@wweek.com, or call 243-2122, ext. 314.
31421 NW Reeder Road
Sauvie Island
621-3435.
11 am-8 pm daily.
$
WWeek 2015