Uptown pizza shop nears reopening after fire
Piping hot and fresh out of a new oven, last week the Vancouver Pizza Co. dished up its first pie since a fire ripped through the popular Main Street eatery in the wee hours of the morning more than seven months ago.
How was it?
"Delicious," said owner Karen McMillen, who has poured hundreds of hours into renovating the demolished space at 2219 Main St. with her family and the dozens of people who have stepped forward to help out.
Some lucky customers have been able to sneak in telephone orders for delivery pizzas when the new staff feels like it can handle it. And on Jan. 28, a woman who hadn’t heard about the fire called to order hers for delivery, and ended up with one of the restaurant’s first pies.
Loyal customers will have to wait a bit longer for their favorite slices – the Vancouver family has not announced an official opening date, and is using VIP gatherings to train the 10 new employees that have come on board. But McMillen, who with her family has owned the 14-year-old restaurant since 2000, said the date is not far off.
After the June 17th fire that caused about $100,000 worth of damage, the McMillens – wife Karen and husband Cliff, daughter Kristen and son Ryan – questioned whether to reopen at all.
Then came the flood of emails, phone calls, prayers and gifts.
From local businesses and restaurant regulars to strangers on the street, the family has been overwhelmed by Vancouver’s generosity.
Unexpected blessings
On an ordinary afternoon in early December, restaurant manager Kristen McMillen realized the restaurant was still without paper towel holders. A simple oversight, but one that would set the budget back $100.
"That’s not a lot of money if you have it," she said. "We didn’t."
Not three hours later, Karen McMillen noticed a woman had walked by the storefront several times, glancing in each time. Finally, the woman stopped.
The woman handed her a bill, instructed her to use it for paper products and walked on.
In her hand was a $100 bill.
"She was my little street angel," she said. "That kind of support was the driving force for us to get the restaurant up and running. We did it less for us and more for the people around us."
Going into it, the family knew the learning curve for restoring the restaurant would be steep and the process expensive, with much of the cost out-of-pocket because the restaurant was underinsured.
A mixer and salad line were the only salvageable pieces of equipment.
The McMillens worked with landlord Bob Angelo to put it all back together again, but the family has done much of the renovation itself.
Although it was necessary to take out loans that will take five to 10 years to recoup, there has not been a shortage of helping hands.
Main Street Trader, which supplied the dining tables and chairs originally, refinished the charred wooden tables. They’re not perfect – a burn mark remains on one of the tabletops – but Kristen McMillen said she prefers it that way.
"History is what makes you you," she said, running her hand across the smooth wood.
LSW Architects, which sits across the street, spent hours putting together a new floor plan. Scott Mikel & Assoc., a downtown real estate agency, donated money and time.
Milan Stonework donated $1,500 worth of granite and labor for countertops.
The Portland company had been ready to invoice the product, but told the McMillens to just throw some pizza their way when the shop is up and running.
Nonprofit group Friends of the Carpenter has been diligent in donating labor, and local artist Leith Zeutenhorst hand painted a large Renaissance-inspired mural and several ceiling tiles, along with the lettering on the glass storefront.
Zeutenhorst painted the original ceiling tiles, and has designed the new Vancouver Pizza Co. post cards and menu.
More decorated ceiling tiles are on their way, thanks to Russ Ford’s Hockinson High School art class.
"It’s been interesting to see that the community has experienced a feeling of unity, and I say that with all humbleness," Karen McMillen said. "It is overwhelming to me."
Counting down the days
"After seven years, we were just getting to the point of feeling like our heads were above water," Karen McMillen said of the timing of the fire.
A batch of freshly washed, dried and folded towels that were previously soiled with olive oil had been set near a dryer full of aprons. The heat from the dryer set off a chemical reaction from the combination of oil and bleach on the towels, and sparked.
"Now it’s definitely like we’re starting the business over again," she said.
Three employees were kept on and paid during the renovation, but 85 percent are new and in the training process.
Kristen said the company got lucky with the batch of new employees: the first pizza – a Mozart – was exactly the quality she was looking for.
The new employees may actually be adjusting better than the McMillens. The restaurant set-up is flipped, and the pizza production line has switched directions.
"We’re having to redo our thinking," Karen McMillen said, laughing. "We’ve been turning the wrong way the whole time."
Marketing has been key the last seven months, she said.
"We wanted to keep our name out there, let people know we’re coming back."
The company mailed post cards to customers on the mailing list, kept a blog about the renovation journey and taped a photo montage with the story of the rebirth in the front window.
"We don’t want to just be the pizza place that burned down," Karen said.
And in the fresh dining room, there’s no sign that it did.
