Fire at new Glow restaurant causes two-week closure
Rose Reisman woke early last Thursday to talk about blueberry recipes on Canada AM. But when the restaurateur behind Glow Fresh Grill and Wine Bar checked her e-mail at around 4:30, there was a message from her restaurant manager; “Glow on fire” was the subject line.
“It was total disbelief,” said Reisman. “I literally felt sick to my stomach.” The three-week-old restaurant at the Shops at Don Mills became a charred mess after someone leaned a designer chair against a patio heater the night before. The large patio doors kept the fire from spreading into the dining room, but it was filled with enough smoke to warrant a heavy-duty cleaning.
New doors could take four months to arrive from Germany, so Reisman is planning to install temporary ones. She hopes to have the outdoor space repaired in a month; the dining room should be operating again by the end of next week.
“We were just starting to come together like an orchestra,” said Reisman. “Just the day before the fire, the main chef commented that he was thinking about taking his first day off.”
Reisman is certainly grieving the loss, but she’s also grateful for the extra time to tweak the wine list and plan her fall menu, which focuses on healthy, seasonal fare.
What kind of contractors is she using, anyway? A MONTH to get new doors? Uh, Rose, you DO know you can get them installed in a day or two, right? Methinks the fire was larger, or business was slower than they’re letting on. Just drove by today and it’s a whole production there. For someone who owns the Pickle Barrel, you’d think they’d be experienced in this stuff. Oh well.
On another note, the new Joey’s restaurant at Shops at Don Mills is looking pretty sleek. And it’s about 10 feet away form Glow. Looks like that and Jack Astor’s will have some heavy duty competition on their hands soon.