By JENNIFER CONWAY
Staff reporter
It’s in the old Blueberry Hill.
Bob and Collette Riggs are getting used to hearing those words, and jokingly considered calling their new Italian Restaurant “The Old Blueberry Hill.”
Instead they decided on Trattoria Parma. Trattoria, usually meaning a small Italian family restaurant, and Parma, Bob’s favorite city in Italy.
After acquiring the lease of the almost-historic Freeland restaurant building in January, the Riggses had the daunting task of making the building look more Italy than blueberry. Now, after a complete transformation both inside and out, Trattoria Parma is just days away from opening.
“To bring life back into this place is gonna be fun,” Collette Riggs said Tuesday.
The restaurant is yellow on the inside and out — appropriately a “Parma yellow” — with deep red accents. Interior walls were knocked down and new, bright cheery lighting livens up the room. A curved bar frames a WoodStone oven, where patrons can watch flames cook their pizzas or entrees.
To become a restaurateur, Bob Riggs — who is also a school board member — recently gave up his position as a film and television special effects coordinator.
“I got tired of what I was doing for a living,” he said.
Being closer to his three teenage daughters is an added bonus of working closer to home, Bob said.
Collette Riggs, who is an international flight attendant, will spend the time she is not on a plane at the restaurant. She said she hopes to work up front in the restaurant — or wherever else she might be needed — in her time off from traveling.
Bob said the restaurant will serve up as much local produce as possible, including local wines, coffee, beef and Penn Cove mussels.
“We want to keep the economy on the island,” added Collette.
Counting through the various restaurants that had occupied the building before them, the Riggs’ are looking to get locals to forget “Blueberry” and remember “Parma.” Though their food may be similar to the fare in the Langley area, the Riggses said they will be different enough to attract customers to the Freeland area.
“There’s plenty of capacity for several different restaurants,” said Bob Riggs.
