The owner of York Rd. Kitchen & Chocolate Bar says his biggest concern in the wake of a recent fire at the restaurant is the well-being of his staff, who are out of work as extensive repairs are made.
In the early morning hours on Friday, a fire caused extensive damage to the York Road eatery.
Karim Ladhani, owner of the establishment, was on vacation with his family at the time of the fire. He is thankful the fire occurred in the early morning hours and that no one was hurt.
“I am sure there is a lot of anxiety among the staff as to where their next pay cheque is going to come from,” said Ladhani. “I am just happy that everyone is safe.”
Firefighters were called to the restaurant just before 4 a.m. Friday when a passerby saw smoke coming from the building. An aggressive interior attack by firefighters brought the basement fire under control.
Ladhani said a great deal of water ended up in the basement as a result of the firefighting efforts.
The fire caused extensive damage to the basement ceiling under the kitchen, said Ladhani. The problem is complicated because the electrical box and gas lines are located in the basement, he said.
“Because of the damage to the floor joists from the basement to the kitchen and the water flooding, it has been deemed unsafe,” said Ladhani. He expects the repairs to take months to complete.
Ladhani credits the quick work of firefighters with the Guelph Fire Department for getting the fire under control before it spread to the rest of the building.
“There could have been extensive damage. They were terrific in taking care of the problem quickly,” he said.
The investigation will continue when it is safe for investigators to enter the basement, said Ladhani.
“They managed to pump the water out but they still have to shore up the kitchen to make it safe, so there is nothing going on until all of that happens,” he said.
It may be possible for a temporary solution to be set up.
“We have been giving thought to bringing in a trailer full of kitchen equipment, but right now we don’t have any solutions — no pop-up truck or anything like that,” said Ladhani. “Let’s get the staff taken care of and then we can see what we can do about taking care of our guests.”
