Cooper Alford shows off an 8Moose pizza, with, from left, mom Eileen, sister Wen Hui and brother Edgar.
Tim and Eileen Alford came to Moraga from Pittsburgh and Cleveland, and though they love Lamorinda, their culinary world wasn’t quite complete.
“We missed our East Coast pizzas,” Eileen said, and so Tim, a money manager, decided to fill in that gap.
“He started learning the craft of making pizzas,” she said, and began by developing his own sourdough starter. From there, he got more and more serious.
“Some people get puppies,” Eileen said. “My husband got a gigantic pizza oven,” which was so big it sat in their driveway.
“The neighbors saw it and said, ‘Can you cater our party?’” she said, and the road to the newest pizza place in Orinda had begun to be paved.
8Moose Pizza, in the old Nation’s spot across the street from Peet’s, took five years to appear after that oven arrived, but along the way, Tim got better and better at making pizzas. That first party gig led to another and another, and soon 8Moose could be found at the Orinda Farmer’s
Market.
Eventually the time came to try a brick-and-mortar spot, and when Bravo’s Pizza shut down, 8Moose took over. Having a place already set up for pizza production was a stroke of luck that the Alfords were quick to take advantage of.
“It just presented itself,” said Eileen. “Their loss was our gain.”
And “our” is the operative word, as 8Moose is definitely a family affair. Tim is the chef, Eileen handles the pizza side, and their three children – Cooper, Edgar and Wen Hui – all work there.
And though 8Moose does a lot of take-out, it was also important for the Alfords to sell slices so that snackers and light-lunch eaters would have options as well.
And when the doors opened, customers arrived – in droves.
“We’ve been in the area for 20 years, so people know us,” said Eileen, who’s the director of child care at Los Perales Elementary School in Moraga. “Our first week was ridiculous. We sold out of dough every night.”
Oh, and the name? You can read about a chef’s mysterious encounter with eight enigmatic moose on the wall of the restaurant, but you might want to take it with a grain of salt. Or a slice of pizza.