Two years ago to the day, fire hit the popular Ginza Japanese Restaurant at 74 Front Street in downtown Penticton.
Firefighters were on the scene quickly, and the blaze was confined primarily to the kitchen. But it did a lot of damage there, and the smoke impacted the entire interior. So it came as no surprise when the owners were forced to close the place.
Since then, Ginza has remained quiet - as if stuck in time. And the questions swirled. What would happen to the historic two-storey building that housed it? And what of the restaurant itself?
Today, we know. Ginza will live again.
PentictonNow chatted with Ginza co-owner Katie Min this morning just outside the still-boarded ground floor windows of the eatery she and husband Daesung Kim took over in 2008.
She described the day of the fire as "horrible."
"My friend called me to say there's a fire at my restaurant. So I ran to the restaurant. There was a fire truck there already. It was so sad to see."
Min says an inspector ultimately determined "a spark from an electric wire, starting in the kitchen" was to blame. And, she says, "It didn't seem too bad when you first looked at it, but it was all gone. The kitchen was gone. We couldn't use anything. Our stock, our inventory, it was all gone. So much smoke."
Min claims she initially thought about moving the restaurant, but that her love for the city, the location, and the building proved too great.
"I love living in Penticton. I didn't want to move to another place. And this building is very unique. It's hard to work here because it's two-storeys - the kitchen is downstairs, and most of the customers are upstairs."
"So it's like a gym," she laughs. "I have to work hard. But people like it. And I love this place. I worked so hard for ten years. And many people wanted to come back, so I decided to stay here."
But opting to re-open, she says, was just the first baby step in what became an arduous process.
"I thought it would take maybe six months. But it took a lot longer, and I was just waiting. The insurance and everything took so long. Every step took so long. We submitted the permit to the city in October and didn't get it until March."
Min took us inside to see the current condition, which can most accurately be described as a blank slate. Right now, Ginza Japanese Restaurant is studs and timbers and a whole lot of empty space.
Min's landlord and building owner Rick Larsen was there too, and he told us it was a big job just to get it this far.
He talked about the smoke damage and "some structural damage," and said, "It's a hundred year old building. The code is all off and it had to basically be re-done up to code, which was basically the same cost as the other part."
According to Larsen, they had to do "everything," including structural upgrades, heating, air conditioning, and plumbing. Soon, the insulation will be replaced and the interior walls will be built. And then there's the kitchen, which is currently a complete void.
Still, Min is shooting for a July opening. "I thought we'd be open now, but it will take another month or two," she said. "I don't want to miss the whole summer, because I've already missed two summers."
And, she said, most of the dishes that made the place so popular will be resurrected. Indeed, the same chef who ran the kitchen back in the day will return too. Her name is Adrienne Kim, and Min is thrilled to have her back in the fold, along with a new chef named Jungguen Lee.
But along with the Japanese and sushi dishes of old will come some new ideas. Ideas that Min seems eager to debut.
"When we open," she said, "we'll have South Korean food and fusion food too." When pressed for details, she smiled and said, "It's a secret."
Like the menu, the interior of the restaurant will blend the old and the new. The vintage floorplan won't change much, with its high ceilings, wraparound second level, and central grand staircase all easily surviving the fire and the alterations. But the decor, says Min, will be substantially upgraded.
"It will be different. It used to be really traditional, but now it will be more modern. It's hard to put it back exactly as it was before. It will look great."
Inside, there will be seating for approximately 50 on the two floors. Outside on the patio that's been dormant for two full years, there'll be room for 30 to 40 more.
Larsen seemed just as excited about the reopening as Min. And he had an impromptu history lesson too.
"It was a church originally. And it was a bakery in the 20s. It was called Penticton Bakery. The bakery was downstairs, and they had chairs all the way around the opening on the second floor. And when people went to the show at the theatre, then they'd come over here and have tea and bakery items."
"But right now we just want to get it done so she can get her business going again. It's been quite a load on her."
Once re-launched, Ginza Japanese Restaurant will be open twice daily, 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and again from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. every day but Sunday.
Stay tuned to PentictonNow in the coming weeks for more details.
