ST. LOUIS, MO (KTVI - FOX2now.com) -
A much-loved restaurant on The Hill in St. Louis is back in business, six months after an awful fire. Zia's Italian restaurant at Wilson and Edwards has been a popular eating spot for more than a quarter century. But re-opening night at Zia's was not about making money; it was about saying thank you. Zia's treated some VIPs to dinner: the St. Louis firefighters who saved the business.
"Fire was rolling out of the second floor," recalls Battalion Chief Mickey Jordan. "It was intense." Jordan was in charge of the scene that hot August morning. It was around 1 AM when the call came in.
And though it took 20 minutes for owner Robyn Chiodini and her husband to arrive at the scene from their Eureka home, the fire was still burning. "The sight of it when we pulled up was something I've never felt before," she says. "I saw the flames shooting out the back of the building; it was like, 'Oh my God, this is our life.'"
And it was the very essence of Zia's that was burning: the kitchen.
"It was just totally destroyed, the kitchen was a total mess," recalls Jordan.
Despite the blazing heat that morning, as always, St. Louis firefighters would not let the fire win. The building burned, but firefighters got it out before it burned beyond repair. So it was on a cold winter's night that the kitchen started cooking again. Zia's is back, and so were the firefighters.
"I was kidding with the owners and said I saw the before pictures because I helped create them and the after pictures are just fantastic!" says Jordan.
The kitchen is brand new, but the dining rooms only got a slight touch up. Chiodini says the charm remains.
"We made some changes in the bar and put in a beautiful ceiling. We made it more user friendly, more cozy, the dining rooms all got a facelift, but I think It still feels like the old Zia's and the menu is the same, the only thing we did was change the color of the paper. The prices are the same, the foods the same, and the calories are definitely the same!" she says laughing. The faces are the same, too.
"We got every one of our employees back, from the kitchen to the porter, to the servers, everybody's here. They couldn't wait to come home, they're as happy as we are."
It took the Chiodinis month longer than they anticipated to reopen. Many of the workers looked for temporary jobs, but couldn't find them. It was six months of worry and concern. Rebuilding was not fun, but it is now over.
"You have one day that you think, 'Wow things are moving along.' And then the next day you have part of the brick wall start to crumble. Its like, 'OK we are three steps back,'" says Chiodini. "It's been an experience I never want to go through again. And now that its coming to an end, its exciting."
Firefighters gave the Chiodinis one more thing to be excited about: the chief presented them a white firefighter's helmet, with a red, white, and green face, with the Zia's logo on it. It was a thank you for the thank you dinner.
"I love them," Chiodini says of the firefighters. "I can't praise them enough."
Jordan says that's what they work for, the appreciation of the people they serve. "This is the end proof that it is pretty much a success story."
Zia's opens to the public on Tuesday, Feb. 2.
"Fire was rolling out of the second floor," recalls Battalion Chief Mickey Jordan. "It was intense." Jordan was in charge of the scene that hot August morning. It was around 1 AM when the call came in.
And though it took 20 minutes for owner Robyn Chiodini and her husband to arrive at the scene from their Eureka home, the fire was still burning. "The sight of it when we pulled up was something I've never felt before," she says. "I saw the flames shooting out the back of the building; it was like, 'Oh my God, this is our life.'"
And it was the very essence of Zia's that was burning: the kitchen.
"It was just totally destroyed, the kitchen was a total mess," recalls Jordan.
Despite the blazing heat that morning, as always, St. Louis firefighters would not let the fire win. The building burned, but firefighters got it out before it burned beyond repair. So it was on a cold winter's night that the kitchen started cooking again. Zia's is back, and so were the firefighters.
"I was kidding with the owners and said I saw the before pictures because I helped create them and the after pictures are just fantastic!" says Jordan.
The kitchen is brand new, but the dining rooms only got a slight touch up. Chiodini says the charm remains.
"We made some changes in the bar and put in a beautiful ceiling. We made it more user friendly, more cozy, the dining rooms all got a facelift, but I think It still feels like the old Zia's and the menu is the same, the only thing we did was change the color of the paper. The prices are the same, the foods the same, and the calories are definitely the same!" she says laughing. The faces are the same, too.
"We got every one of our employees back, from the kitchen to the porter, to the servers, everybody's here. They couldn't wait to come home, they're as happy as we are."
It took the Chiodinis month longer than they anticipated to reopen. Many of the workers looked for temporary jobs, but couldn't find them. It was six months of worry and concern. Rebuilding was not fun, but it is now over.
"You have one day that you think, 'Wow things are moving along.' And then the next day you have part of the brick wall start to crumble. Its like, 'OK we are three steps back,'" says Chiodini. "It's been an experience I never want to go through again. And now that its coming to an end, its exciting."
Firefighters gave the Chiodinis one more thing to be excited about: the chief presented them a white firefighter's helmet, with a red, white, and green face, with the Zia's logo on it. It was a thank you for the thank you dinner.
"I love them," Chiodini says of the firefighters. "I can't praise them enough."
Jordan says that's what they work for, the appreciation of the people they serve. "This is the end proof that it is pretty much a success story."
Zia's opens to the public on Tuesday, Feb. 2.
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