Antonio Park Restaurants Forced Shut By Fire

Montreal chef Antonio Park’s two Westmount restaurants Lavanderia and Park are closed temporarily after a fire ripped through the Victoria Avenue building housing them on Sunday evening.

Eater tipster Daniel reported the four-alarm fire around 6:30 p.m., suggesting it was due to a chimney fire and observing that “the area smells like a mix of BBQ and bonfire”. The fire originated from the meatier and more grill-oriented of the two restaurants, Lavanderia, before spreading.

Neither restaurant was open at the time, although some staff were working — CBC reports that those workers phoned the fire in and the building was evacuated without injuries. CTV Montreal have footage of the fire in progress online, if watching small businesses burn is one of your interests.

The exceedingly classy Antonio Park is taking the bad news very well — responding to Eater, he says “Thank you very much for your concern, everybody is fine, no one got hurt, thank god!”

Park promises that Lavanderia and the eponymous Park sushi restaurant will be back in business soon. “Hopefully next week — have to find out the damage first,” Park explains. That damage is estimated to be in the $100,000 range — although that’s less of an issue for Park: “the most important part is that my team/family is fine!”

In short, both restaurants are closed for the time being with no set re-opening date as yet, although Eater will keep you updated. As the infamous Romados fire of 2012 taught Montrealers, repairing smoke damage can take much longer than expected — but let’s hope for a swift return to business.

• Westmount fire rips through Lavanderia and Park restaurants [CBC]
• Four-alarm fire in Westmount restaurant [CTV Montreal]
• Romados After the Fire and 20 Years of Chickens [EMTL]