Pizzeria and lounge to replace Europa Bistro, sold after 21 years in Proctor
The owners of Millville Pizza Co., a 5-year-old Gig Harbor restaurant, are bringing their artisan thin-crust pies across the Narrows.
John and Alyssa Ross bought Europa Bistro and its kitchen equipment, rebranding under the name Millhouse & The Blind Pig. Currently undergoing renovations, the updated space will feature a family friendly, fast-casual pizzeria and sandwich shop on one side and a full-service bar and lounge through a separate entrance at 2515 N. Proctor St.
The menu will focus on handhelds served between slices of herbed focaccia and sourdough breads, all homemade; pastas, including cold pasta salad and house spaghetti; thoughtful salads; charcuterie boards with an oregano, rosemary and chili olive oil; and, of course, pizza. The latter will differ from its counterparts at Millville, home to a wood-fired Mugnaini oven: Millhouse will take advantage of Europa’s existing deck oven, rich with patina and two-plus decades of use.
“They make great pizza,” said John Ross. “It really just helps the crust explode.”
Interestingly, the Rosses run their wood-fired oven at around 650 degrees Fahrenheit — below the typical 800 to 900-degree temperatures for Neapolitan-style. The deck oven hits around the same level, cooking their 12-inch pies in about 90 seconds.
The biggest difference, explained Ross: “In a wood-fired oven, the flame goes up and over the dome. From this, all the heat comes from the bottom [and] pushes that dough really straight up,” resulting in “a nice even crust on the bottom.”
The bar will feature about a dozen bottles with eight to 10 glass pours each of red and white wines, plus a handful of local draft beers and bottles. A streamlined cocktail menu will lean into classics — martini, old-fashioned, French 75 — with seasonal specials.
“It’s gonna look and feel very different,” said Ross, who anticipates opening fully by mid-March.
The ownership transition marks the end of an era for the Proctor District, which in 2000 welcomed Alfredo and Justine Russo’s Italian restaurant, inspired by his upbringing in Napoli. They garnered a reputation for comforting pasta dishes, house pastries including spur-of-the-moment cannoli sales, and most recently wood-fired pizza served at the nearby Proctor Farmers Market on Saturdays.
Reached by message, Alfredo Russo told The News Tribune they were not vacating the industry just yet.
“We have not retired,” he said in early January, but “merely sold our 21-year-old business to embark upon a new vision.”
It was a couple of years in the making, according to Ross, a fifth generation Gig Harbor resident and real estate investor. Restaurant work pushed him through college, he said, and that passion never disappeared. Combined with his wife Alyssa’s penchant for baking, they bought the Millville building and opened their first restaurant in 2016.
Pizza proved to be fairly pandemic-proof, leading to recent kitchen upgrades — notably, a walk-in cooler that has allowed them to finally expand the menu to include wood-fired pastas, lasagna and appetizers. They have also managed to retain their staff, some of whom will soon head to Tacoma.
“It just gives us a lot more freedom and flexibility,” said Ross, though “the pizza will always be our bread and butter.”
Like Millville, Millhouse stands to carve an important niche in the local pizza scene, but don’t expect a replica so much as an inspiring origin story.
“We want to keep some things unique for both places,” said Ross.
One treat for which we’ll still have to cross the bridge: Millville’s panuozzo, a Neapolitan street sandwich with pizza dough as the vehicle for meats, cheeses, tomatoes and basil.
MILLHOUSE & THE BLIND PIG
▪ 2515 N. Proctor St., Tacoma
▪ Details: pizza, sandwiches and salads in family friendly setting, plus bar/lounge next door; target opening March 15
▪ Millville Pizza Co.: open daily 11 a.m.-8 p.m., 3409 Harborview Dr., Gig Harbor, 253-514-8628, millvillepizzaco.com
This story was originally published January 28, 2022 at 5:00 AM.