Village Deli reopening today following January fire

April 17--He thought it was burnt toast.

It almost cost him the Village Deli.

Restaurant owner Bob Costello was almost out the door that Sunday. He marched up the stairs from his secluded basement office -- fortunate to leave work an hour early after a traditionally busy Kirkwood weekend brunch rush.

Then, he smelled smoke.

The kitchen staff couldn't find the source -- nothing stuck to the pans. Nothing left in the toaster.

The smell in the crowded workroom got thicker, hazier, then hotter.

Costello thrust open the door to the walk-in refrigerator, and black smoke billowed into the restaurant.

He slammed the door, and dashed out to the back alley on that gray, drizzly Sunday. The refrigerator's compressors were on fire, beyond employees' reach, and the blaze was spreading with each second.

"We saw the flames were above the roof," Costello said. "We put our fire extinguishers down, because we knew there was nothing we could do to stop it."

"And then we evacuated."

The fire

To this day, neither Costello nor the Bloomington Fire Department know what sparked the Jan. 25 blaze. No foul play is suspected.

Six emergency vehicles rushed to the scene, blocking Grant Street and Kirkwood Avenue, just after 12:03 p.m. The flames were out about 10 minutes later, but the wait felt like an eternity.

"You don't really notice how time passes during stuff like that," said assistant kitchen manager Arnold Rangira.

Costello, the last person to leave the Deli, is thankful in retrospect for the results: The entire restaurant was safely evacuated, with no injuries. Flames sliced a power line, fraying it into a live wire, but it was quickly isolated by emergency response personnel.

Customers had to wait outside for about 45 minutes on a blustery afternoon to retrieve their purses or jackets -- having abandoned their meals as smoke filled the eating area -- but as the flames died, the restaurant appeared salvageable, and patrons would surely return to dine another day.

As Costello consoled his staff and prepared a game plan going forward, the nation at large was beginning to take notice.

The reaction

Cell phone videos of the blaze, quickly posted to YouTube and Twitter, caught the eyes of Hoosier Nation.

With IU's men's basketball game versus Ohio State slated to tip off about an hour later, alumni and students alike were already glued to their phones. They didn't anticipate they would soon be spreading the word about a beloved Kirkwood establishment going up in smoke.

"We were getting phone calls from California, New York and Florida," Costello said. "It really shows the number of alumni we have who care."

Village Deli trended nationally, reaching third in Twitter's topic rankings for that day within a few hours. #ResurrectTheDeli followed within the week.

But that Sunday, Costello -- in crisis mode -- wanted to keep things hush-hush. His wife was in Indianapolis for their younger daughter's volleyball tournament.

"I didn't want to worry her about it," Bob Costello explained. "There was nothing she could do."

Their older daughter, Elle, drove back to Bloomington, surprising him at the charred restaurant. Bob warned her not to tell Mom quite yet.

"And who do you think sent me?" she asked her father.

The rebuild

Costello kept the faith that his beloved Village Deli would reopen in as little as two weeks. He believed it was a minor hiccup. A flesh wound.

His insurance adjusters disagreed, with a laugh.

Although the fire itself was contained to the fridge, air ducts on top of the restaurant had sucked smoke through the entire restaurant's ventilation system.

"There wasn't going to be any clue we opened that soon," Costello said. "But if that thought keeps you holding on, if it gets you through the day, by all means, do it."

Costello was considering upgrading the furnace anyway, but the fire gave him the opportunity to replace his building's entire respiratory system: Replaced ducts. A new air-conditioner. Fresh paint on every wall.

"It really gave us a chance to hit the refresh button," Costello said.

And when delivery of the new $45,000 refrigerator was delayed by a shoreman's strike on the West Coast, a door opened for Costello's staff to give back.

His comprehensive insurance policy -- "one you buy and hope to never use" -- covered lost wages for employees on staff. But when Costello realized the closure would stretch into April, he upped the ante: For each hour they spent volunteering at a local organization, he would pay them double.

Before his offer, only three members of his staff of 56 was involved in volunteering. After it, more than 25 decided to give back through organizations such as the Community Kitchen, Goodwill, the Boys and Girls Club, Mother Hubbard's Cupboard and local churches.

"The onus was on the students to go out and find an organization they were interested in," Costello said. "The students' experiences have been vast and wonderful."

The reopening

The Village Deli opens for business once again Friday at 7 a.m.

It will be the first breakfast the restaurant has served to the general public in 82 days. As such, Costello hasn't played with the menu.

"We had some ideas to change the menu, but we decided to stay classic," he said. "Since people haven't been to the Deli, we wanted their favorites to be available."

Costello has hired some supplemental staff to make sure the crew is ready for the big day, as well as for Bloomington's usually busy agenda of spring social events, such as the Little 500 bike races and commencement weekends.

Patrons might notice the brighter coats of paint on the deli's picnic tables along Kirkwood Avenue, as well as its new checker-board canopy, even a new wait station, at a storefront that's been closed off for nearly three months.

But in a city like Bloomington -- where restaurants are treated like community spaces, and owners like neighbors -- it will be a cozy welcome-back for Costello and company.

"The biggest lesson is that things like this always take longer than you think," Costello said.

"But we're ready."

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