Fire Seriously Damages Rothesay Restaurants
ROTHESAY — A fire has caused serious damage to a pair of restaurants in Rothesay, according to fire officials.
Emergency crews were called to a building on Hampton Road around 10 p.m. Wednesday.
The building houses sister restaurants Cheese Curds: Gourmet Burgers + Poutinerie and Habaneros Modern Taco Bar.
“First on-scene reports indicated that there was a working fire in the basement,” the Kennebecasis Valley Fire Department said in a Facebook post.
Firefighters forced their way into the building and extinguished the fire. Crews were on the scene for about three hours, according to the post.
Both restaurants took to Facebook on Thursday morning and said they will be closed for “an undetermined amount of time.”
The two restaurants have been. open for just over a year.
Their opening marked the second location for both restaurants in New Brunswick. The other location is in Oromocto. The chain also has five locations in the Halifax Regional Municipality and one in Truro, Nova Scotia.
In an interview with Huddle in 2021, Bill Pratt, the CEO and founder of Chef Inspired, which owns the two restaurants, along with several others, said the Rothesay restaurants were meant to anchor more expansion in the province.
“We’re really trying to get a foothold into New Brunswick and put Covid behind us. I want to go into Moncton, I want to go into Fredericton, I’ve got a whole bunch of stores in Nova Scotia and I want to get into New Brunswick,” Pratt said.
Chef Inspired also owns Nova Scotia-based Gecko Bus, Upstreet BBQ Brewhouse, Studio East Food + Drink, and Terra Rossa Trattoria.
The cause of the Rothesay fire remains under investigation.
Brad Perry is the Regional News Director for New Brunswick at Acadia Broadcasting, Huddle content partners.
With files from Liam Floyd.