Scott Olsen launched the Ivy Bear Family Pizzeria in 2012 with the goal of
bringing artisanal pizza making methods to Mount Hood. After years of

crafting his pies using traditional Italian recipes along with locally sourced
ingredients and house-made sauce and dough, Olsen is now venturing closer
to realizing his dream of a “farm to fork” style pizzeria with the addition of his
own seasoned, smoked and cured meat toppings.

“The more you can do from scratch allows you to make a product that no one
else can make,” Olsen said about the production of his pizzas. “I try to do
everything I can to make the best pizza possible.”

In August, the Ivy Bear began offering house-made Canadian bacon, Italian
sausage, seasoned beef and three varieties of house cured pepperoni:
original, habanero and bison with their pies.

“The (house-made meats) take the pizzas to a whole other level,” Olsen said.
“When I do it in-house I can offer a better product than a manufacturer. They
always have their bottom line.”

Olsen said he was inspired while visiting the German town of Rothenburg ob
der Tauber with his wife on their honeymoon in 2017. There they visited
German butcher shops and witnessed the traditional production of cured
meats and sausages.

The new production methods require a considerable amount of additional
time. The pepperonis spend over a day in a dedicated curing chamber and the
Canadian bacon takes more than a week to brine, dry and smoke.

“I thought it might require too much time. It’s turned out totally feasible and
(the meats) are way better,” Olsen said. “It’s not a money saver, but to be
able to stand behind the product, it’s worth it.”

Olsen has invested in new equipment for the process including a butcher-shop
caliber meat grinder, a sausage machine, humidifiers for the curing room and
a custom-machined pepperoni slicing attachment for the pizzeria’s meat
slicer. Olsen had his neighbor create the attachment, which he described as
resembling a “gatling gun” that can cut seven pepperonis at a time.

Even with the new production Olsen intends to continue to offer the toppings
at the same prices. The bison pepperoni will be offered at a higher price point
due to the higher cost of the Eastern Oregon-raised, grass-fed bison meat.

“I recently asked the staff if they could think of anything we can do from
scratch that doesn’t involve raising the animals or producing the cheese,”
Olsen said about his dedication to producing artisanal pizza. “I really don’t
think there are more than a dozen pizza restaurants in the United States
doing what we’re doing.”

The Ivy Bear Family Pizzeria is located at 54735 Hwy. 26 in Sandy. The
pizzeria is open daily from 11 a.m. until 9 p.m. and can be reached by phone
at 503-208-9111.