A big plume of smoke hung over the top of Main Street the morning of September 7. A grease fire in Grappa’s 100-year-old building was largely contained to the restaurant’s ventilation system, but it still caused a lot of problems.
Bill White is the owner of Grappa and several other restaurants in the Park City area.
“We didn’t get a ton of direct fire damage,” White said. “It was all ancillary things that were affected, like the telecom wiring systems, the computers in the building, the phones — all that got torched because it was in the mechanical duct that was alongside the ventilation duct.”
White said all of the wood floors and tiles in the restaurant have been replaced, and the kitchen is brand new. But outside of a slightly different interior layout, he said customers should expect the same old Grappa.
Despite being closed for over six months, White said they still paid employees.
Grappa staff who wanted to work joined the team at Pine Cone Ridge, White’s new restaurant lower down Main Street.
The owner added he likely wouldn’t have survived this long of a closure if it weren’t for insurance.
“It worked out well, because I don’t know how else you could ever have remodeled that restaurant without closing it down for that length of time and then losing that income," White said. "It just economically would kill you. But in this case, insurance saved the day."
He said he was heartened by the compassion the Park City community showed for the 30-year-old restaurant.
“It was really impressive to me... how much support that we got, whether it was a phone call or a text," White said. "Everybody was kind of aware that it happened and it was very supportive. It’s just really encouraging that we live in a town that supports us and has allowed me and my crew and my company to thrive through all these years, through all these ups and downs.”
Grappa is holding a soft opening Thursday, followed by an official reopening on Friday.
People can learn more at grapparestaurant.com
