Redmond resident Lief Moi got his start in the restaurant business at the young age of 14, working for Italian restauranteur Spiro Aliagas in his heralded Olympia Pizza and Pasta location on Queen Anne Hill.
From there, Moi helped open multiple Italian eateries all over the greater Seattle area, including the Sparta’s and Spiro’s chains, as well as Pizza Bank in Kirkland.
He left the industry to enter construction, but with the economic downturn, Moi found himself making yet another career change. This time, however, one group in particular will benefit greatly.
“Really the only other thing I knew was the restaurant business,” he said. “I’ve always really enjoyed it, but if I did it again I wanted to do it with a different purpose, to make it a community-type business.”
Moi will be opening up Filos Pizza and Pasta in the Village at Redmond Ridge in early January of 2011 in the old Coyote Creek location, but with a catch.
He will donate 100 percent of the proceeds from his Sunday sales in his restaurant to the Redmond Little League Scholarship Fund, which will help the families of children that want to play baseball pay for the growing expenses in the sport.
“Some families, they can’t do it,” noted Moi, adding that while Redmond is often a picture of affluence, many are struggling. “It’s two, three, four hundred dollars now for a kid to play in little league or other junior sports. If you have more than one child, it gets real expensive, real quick.”
Moi, who has been involved with coaching soccer, football and baseball for 23 years, chose to dedicate the fund to the Redmond team that went to the Little League World Series in 2004, a group he refers to as “the most successful team to ever come out of this area.”
Playing for that team were recent Redmond High college prospects Colin Porter (Univ. of Washington), Michael Conforto (Oregon State) and Ryan Beliel (Whitworth).
The fund will help kids in need who are in the feeder systems for either Redmond, Eastlake or Cedarcrest high schools.
“It was a lifetime experience,” Moi recalled of his days playing Little League ball. “Looking back on my childhood and playing junior baseball and football, and the great memories that come from it, I wanted to do something that gives back to the community.”
Moi will be hosting a celebratory dinner on Sunday, Jan. 2 for all of the players and families from Redmond’s 2004 seventh-place World Series team, with the public grand opening slated later that week.
Adorning the walls of Filos will be an array of Redmond Little League memorabilia for customers to peruse.
“There’s going to be jerseys… trophies, signed baseballs, hats, anything that the kids on the team want to loan to me, we’ll put it up on the wall,” Moi said. “It’s going to be cool.”
Already up on display is an autographed photo of the 2004 team with President George W. Bush in front of Air Force One, who just “happened to be in town” prior to Redmond’s World Series run, according to Moi.
The longtime coach is also trying to get other local businesses on board to help with the fund, with some success thus far.
“If they eat at my place on Tuesday night, then they go to Quizno’s on Thursday night, and then the teriyaki place on Saturday, Mr. Moo’s on Sunday, you know what, we all win,” Moi explained. “We need to let the community know that we’re not just here to make money, but to pour back into the community. Our kids live here, they grow up in the schools and play sports here. The stronger our community is, the stronger our businesses will be.”
For more information on Filos or the Little League Scholarship Fund, contact Moi at (206) 941-7981 or by e-mail at lief@liefmoi.com.
