Dove Vivi's crust didn't start in Portland. The recipe traces back to Mike Freeman at Zelo, the Los Angeles pizzeria he opened in 2000 after years working the ovens at Vicolo in San Francisco under chef Patricia Unterman. Freeman passed the technique along, and it eventually made its way up the coast to NE Glisan Street in Kerns.
The cornmeal crust remains the anchor — hand-prepared using organic cornmeal grown in Southeast Oregon and Northeast California, stone-ground locally at Bob's Red Mill, alongside Grain Craft flour and olive oil. Whole pies run 12 inches and are built for sharing. The meat program goes deep in-house: sausage made from Carlton Farms pork, plus house-cured pancetta, tasso ham, Canadian bacon, maple bacon, and corned beef, alongside cased andouille, chorizo, bratwurst, and chicken sausage. Toppings, dressings, marinades, and brines are made from scratch daily using locally sourced produce when possible.
Regulars keep coming back for the corn-forward crust specifically — it's the thing that sets the pizza apart from the neighborhood's other options — and the restaurant has built a loyal, long-term following in Kerns over the years.
The cornmeal crust remains the anchor — hand-prepared using organic cornmeal grown in Southeast Oregon and Northeast California, stone-ground locally at Bob's Red Mill, alongside Grain Craft flour and olive oil. Whole pies run 12 inches and are built for sharing. The meat program goes deep in-house: sausage made from Carlton Farms pork, plus house-cured pancetta, tasso ham, Canadian bacon, maple bacon, and corned beef, alongside cased andouille, chorizo, bratwurst, and chicken sausage. Toppings, dressings, marinades, and brines are made from scratch daily using locally sourced produce when possible.
Regulars keep coming back for the corn-forward crust specifically — it's the thing that sets the pizza apart from the neighborhood's other options — and the restaurant has built a loyal, long-term following in Kerns over the years.