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Imagine dining out at your favorite neighborhood restaurant, tucking into an eggplant parmigiana, when you suddenly smell smoke and the sound of your hostess directing an evacuation.
That’s what happened Tuesday around 6:45 p.m., when a grease fire set the kitchen ablaze at Lafayette’s Postino, sending about 70 diners onto the patio, carrying their dinner plates and watching fire crews put the blaze out while they finished their meals.
“They took their glasses and bottles of wine with them too, obviously,” says Postino co-owner Parry Tong. “My wife was managing the restaurant, called 911 and got everyone out in a timely fashion.”
Postino is housed in a historic Carr Jones structure. Originally built in 1937 as Lafayette’s post office, the restaurant’s name gives a nod to that past. Postino is an Italian-inspired fine dining establishment known for its intimate, brick-lined rooms and famous opening chef. Cat Cora opened the restaurant with Michael Chiarello in 1998 before moving on to “Iron Chef” and Food Network fame.
According to Tong, fire crews still don’t know where the fire originated, but he believes it was behind the kitchen hood. According to Contra Costa County Fire Protection District spokesman Steve Hill, the fire was contained to the vented area, then spread into the ducts.
Because of the design of the restaurant, he says, it proved nearly impossible to get to all the hot spots. So they let the hot spots burn slowly for hours. Fire crews had to cut holes in the walls and ceilings to get to some of those spots.
“Good news is that it was localized to one area of the kitchen,” Hill said. “The bad news is that there was a lot of smoke and water damage.”
Tong spent Wednesday with contractors assessing damage before a clean-up crew arrived in the afternoon. He says support from the restaurant community has been phenomenal.
“I’ve heard from everyone from Danville to Vallejo,” he said. “The restaurant community is very tight in this area. The support has been amazing.”
Tong says he hopes to re-open soon, but could not determine when until the damage has been fully assessed.
