Ken Neff brings pizza-packed life to Sisters

Ken Neff has created a pizza-packed life for himself since 1980. Now Neff has brought his pizza-making expertise to Sisters as the owner of Ken's Old Fashion Pizza Pie at 352 E. Hood Ave.

"I'm always thinking of new recipes for pizzas and I do rely on my customers to tell me what they like," Neff said.

Neff's careeer started with a spontaneous decision, turning an empty building next to his small town grocery store in Sunsites, Arizona, into his first pizza shop.

Having opened numerous pizza shops throughout the Northwest, Neff was in search of a new location and had Oregon hot on the radar. While looking along the Oregon Coast, he received a phone call from a family member regarding a parlor for sale in Sisters.

Although he had never before bought an already existing parlor, Neff was eager for a change and excited about starting fresh in a small town atmosphere.

"This is my first actual pizza parlor that I've ever bought. I've always started them from scratch. I had to change everything to my way of doing it. So in doing that, I basically had to start from scratch," Neff said.

Neff calls his pizza unique for more reasons than one. They are as close to homemade as possible, with fresh ingredients and original recipes. Neff makes the traditional combinations such as cheese and pepperoni, but is enthusiastic and open to new ideas. Although he sticks with his original dough and sauce recipe, Neff says his job is to make his pizzas special for his customers, making sure that what you ask for is what you get.

"I try to capture everyone's taste bud," said Neff.

Ken's Old Fashion Pizza Pie has been open in Sisters since November 7. Neff is currently operating another pizza parlor in New Mexico under the same name. With those and the eight others, currently known as Old Time Pizza (spread across Washington, Nevada and Arizona) Neff is plenty deep in the pizza business and has loads of experience.

"I can go into a pizza place and I can taste what's in their sauce," Neff said.

Neff played with his unique pizza sauce for three years before he settled into something he really loved. Although he sticks with the same recipes for his dough, sauce and nearly endless toppings, adjusting to the community is a constant challenge, and something Neff prides himself in accomplishing.

He understands and recognizes that what may be appealing and appetizing is different from community to community. Not only do toppings change, but styles and flavors change as well.

"It depends on your audience; it depends on where you are at. Sisters is unique in a sense that the appetite of the people here is a lot different," Neff said.

According to Neff, folks in Sisters enjoy more herbs, spices and vegetables in their toppings.

Neff pays close attention to what is important to the people of Sisters, and builds his menu to some degree based on just that. In all of his parlors though, customer relationships and service is highest on his list of priorities and he says he is open to suggestions.

"I think that what you have to do with your customers is you have to listen to them, because 90 percent of them have good ideas," Neff said.

Neff has a goal of giving his parlor a "homey" feel, making sure everyone feels welcome, comfortable and at ease, something we tend to experience in too few restaurants as our lives become more and more frenzied.

"You want to feel comfortable in a restaurant. You don't want to feel rushed," said Neff.

The small town of Sisters is quite a change from the relatively large cities Neff has worked in for the past years, but "it's towns like Sisters that I really love," Neff said. Although he knows that coming into a small town with a new idea isn't always easy, he's optimistic in his recent journey.

"I just think that I'm going to enjoy Sisters. Not just pizza parlors, but restaurants as well should be proud if they go into a town to open up an independent place, and do well," Neff said.