The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
EATERY TO REOPEN Unity, determination resurrects family business destroyed by fire
These days, the Catena family is bombarded with a litany of questions, none more frequent than, “When are you opening?”
“We hear it so much,” said Rina Catena, “and we love that people are asking. Early, it would get to us a bit because we had no idea, but they ask because they care and fully support us, and
we understand and appreciate that. In the end, there’s only one thing we can tell them, ‘Soon.’ ”
However, the family will only be using the word for about another month as they earnestly prepare for the February grand reopening of their eatery, Mama Catena Ristorante, which was destroyed by a fire in May 2017.
Since the blaze, which was
“We received so many texts and letters expressing support. The outpouring of love was out of control...” — Fran Lausin
caused by an electrical problem, and specifically in advance of the reopening, the family has worked tirelessly with insurance agents, designers, a water extraction team, construction and building supply personnel, and restaurant equipment salespeople.
Despite the light at the end of the tunnel, the struggle has been real.
“This gave us pause, literally,” Rina said, who plans events at the restaurant part time. “This has been the most challenging, if not the most challenging, experience of our lives. That day, we had events planned. My sister, Fran, called me and said, ‘I think there’s something wrong at the restaurant.’ I stayed calm, but when I turned on Babbitt (Road), I saw a sea of red lights, police lights and the street partially closed. Then it hit me — this is real.
“Fire departments from different cities came to aid us. I called my parents, both in their 80s, and told them everything was OK, that everyone was fine, but that there was little fire in the restaurant. The vision will never leave my mind.”
After the retrieval of several items, including family heirlooms, the gravity of the disaster began to sink in for Rina, Fran and their nephew, Frank, who said everyone was in a state of shock.
“It was an emotional bombshell,” he said. “We’ve been through so much. There were actually two intermediate periods, the initial disbelief and superficial surveying of the damage, and then coming back later, when you know there’s a bunch of stuff to do.
“It’s the endorphin rush, you know? You’ve gone through all that adrenaline all day. By the end of that first night, people might have been confused that we weren’t upset. We were out of our minds, assessing, laughing, watching the news. Next thing you know we’re all crying again.”
But the Catenas weren’t alone. The community rushed to console them, including, customers, neighbors, Euclid police, off-duty Euclid firemen and even the city’s mayor, Kirsten Holzheimer Gail, who, Fran and Rina said, left her son’s baseball game to come to the scene to hug them.
“That was awesome,” Fran said. “We received so many texts and letters expressing support. The outpouring of love was out of control. We are so appreciative of the police, the fire department, everyone. They all realize this is not just our place, it’s our livelihood. And one of the hardest things was having to say no to people during the holidays because we weren’t going to be open.”
Mama Catena Ristorante opened in May 1989, owned and operated by the Catenas ever since. The family, including Fran and Rina’s parents, Giuseppina and Francesco, agreed early on after the fire that there was only one decision to be made, despite doubts and emotional and financial strain.
“We had to reopen,” Fran said. “This is what we do for other people. We are Euclid, Mama Catena’s is Euclid. We could have moved, but we are the city. We live here. We owe it to Euclid and we owe it to our tremendous customers.”
Those customers include residents not only in Euclid, but as far as Solon and Aurora.
Frank, who grew up in the restaurant, working there on and off while engaged in other professions, still describes the fire as a nasty dream.
“This restaurant, it’s like my second house,” he said. “I grew up here. I don’t remember anything before the restaurant. It’s had a major imprint on my life. And we had to learn how to live without it for all these months, instinctively wanting to go pick up food with my kids and then realizing we couldn’t.
“We haven’t fully picked our jaws up off the floor yet,” Frank added, noting that the jolting element of the destruction will always linger. “Nobody chooses to go through something like this. We’ll get past it, and we’re almost there, but it doesn’t shake the memory. We’re purposefully trying to stay caught up in the business side so we don’t get too emotional, because we knew we had to come together to fix this.”
As the reopening approaches, the Catenas are both emotionally and financially ready to debut the future incarnation of their eatery, bringing in everything new, “except the concrete,” from the windows to the sets of flatware.
The restaurant, at 711 Babbitt Road, will seat 60 to 70 people. Two former separate dining rooms have been designed into one, including a larger wine wall. A full bar will also be available, as will a private dining area.
Regardless of being dispirited for months, the Catenas said they’ve remained driven, even preparing sauce and cooking dough in a test kitchen, eating pizza and reacting with tears to how close they are to resurrecting the eatery.
“This place is going to be so ridiculously gorgeous,” Frank said. “We’ve had to dig deep and make people work as hard as we do. Through this process, we’ve learned a lot. And so many people have helped us along the way to make this happen.”
Fran, “very excited” for the grand reopening, said being back will feel therapeutic.
“It’s an unassuming place, but it’s a treasure trove of smells and tastes and traditions,” she said. “The community is our family and we can’t wait to be back for them. They have given us the strength to come back.”