Alan Maniscalco, the longtime chef at Ken's Artisan Pizza, has left the 10-year-old Southeast Portland restaurant to open a pizzeria of his own in Vancouver.

Rally Pizza is set for a September opening in The Mill, a former East Mill Plain Boulevard shopping center also home to an upcoming third location of B.J. Smith's growing Smokehouse barbecue empire.

Expect pizzas similar to Ken's, only baked in a gas-fired oven instead of wood, Maniscalco tells The Oregonian/Oregonlive. The menu will include margherita and pepperoni pies, a Caesar salad, sundaes, frozen custards and concretes. From the standards to more seasonal offerings and specials, customers should expect a "chef-driven" approach.

"We will be hand-pulling mozzarella, making ricotta, smoking meats, preserving chiles, making sauces and ingredients, baking pies and cookies and candies, preserving fruits all with the goal of putting our unique signature on each dish," Maniscalco says.

The sweets come courtesy of Shan Wickham, Maniscalco's wife and the former pastry chef at Ken's, who will also serve as Rally Pizza's general manager.

The restaurant's dining room wiil be full-service, though neighbors can expect a walk-up counter for taking pizza and frozen custards to-go.

Look for Rally Pizza to launch this September at 8070 E. Mill Plain Blvd.; rallypizza.com

-- Michael Russell