Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
‘One of the scariest things I’ve ever seen’
Fire breaks out behind popular new restaurant in Delray Beach
A fire broke out Tuesday at Rose’s Daughter, a popular new Italian restaurant in Delray Beach, but there were no injuries and damage was minimal, chef-owner Suzanne Perrotto says. The restaurant hopes to reopen Thursday after repairs and replenishing fire extinguishers.
“One of the scariest things I’ve ever seen,” Perrotto said in a phone interview Wednesday. “But the first responders were amazing.”
The restaurant, at 167 NE Second Ave., was closed when the fire broke out behind the restaurant around 2:30 p.m. Perrotto says she and four others inside quickly evacuated. Perrotto says the blaze damaged a rear storage area and trash bins but there was no damage to the restaurant’s main structure or rear patio/ bar area.
Flames singed a corner of an awning. She does not know how the fire started. A nearby electrical substation was not damaged. Other businesses were evacuated and electricity was cut to the block
in the Pineapple Grove neighborhood while firefighters contained the blaze. Perrotto says she was preparing for evening dinner service and had just removed a batch of potatoes from the restaurant’s wood-burning oven when she smelled smoke coming from the back. “I thought it was charcoal,” Perrotto says. “I’ve got a big nose and I smell everything.”
When she went to the back patio, she says she saw flames shooting from the fenced-in storage area. She told three staffers and a visiting chef to call 911 and leave the building.
“I was scared for people’s lives because I know that fire can spread quickly,” Perrotto says. “My first reaction was the building could blow up. We keep charcoal out back and I was afraid that was going to ignite. Our building has gas lines running through it.”
Perrotto says she ran into an adjoining hair salon to tell everyone to evacuate. “They kind of looked at me like I was crazy, because I was cursing,” Perrotto says. “There were three ladies sitting in chairs with solution in their hair and I was saying, ‘Get the f—- out!’ “
Doreen Zic-Hock, a nearby resident, says she was in her backyard Tuesday when she heard “big popping noises” coming from behind the restaurant. “We saw some smoke — some blue smoke, some black smoke,” Zic-Hock says. “We ran over … and we saw the flames coming out of the back. The biggest concern was that it was right near the electrical substation for Delray Beach.”
Firefighters quickly arrived and contained the fire and cordoned off the area with yellow tape. Other businesses on the block, including the Grove restaurant and Ramen 369, had power restored in a few hours and were open for dinner service. Perrotto says power was restored in Rose’s Daughter by 10:30 p.m., and that she was able to ice down items in coolers to prevent spoilage. Perrotto says she needs to have fire extinguishers replenished and the restaurant’s fire-suppression system inspected before it can reopen, but she’s confident all the fixes can be made by Thursday.
She says she was heartened by the quick actions and help offered by residents and businesses in the surrounding area. “Construction workers from the hotel [being built down the block] came running over with fire extinguishers before the firefighters got here,” Perrotto says. “Others asked me if I needed to use their refrigerators for storage.
“I just feel really blessed that this happened during the day, when the restaurant was closed but people were still around,” Perrotto says. “I can’t imagine what would have happened if it started in the middle of the night, or when the restaurant was crowded.”
Perrotto says she will pay dishwashers and some staffers out of pocket for the lost work days. Business has been strong at the 167-seat restaurant since its August 2019 opening. “I’m going to lose a little money, but I’m just thankful that nobody was hurt.”