December 14, 2006
Sassafraz: The Day After
The smoke has cleared at Sassafraz, and this morning the extent of the damage was gut-wrenchingly clear. The entire top floor was obliterated, much of the roof is gone, and from what we saw on site this morning, the lower floors that sustained the least damage are also a write-off. Least visibly damaged is the atrium bar area (see photos), though large parts of the glass atrium are gone and water and smoke damage has completely destroyed the furnishings. Sadly, tables are set for lunch service and cheery holiday decorations hang from the trees amidst the broken and burnt debris.
The fire spread quickly in the kitchen area and through the wall behind the atrium's mirrors (visible in the photo), and years of add-ons and layered renovations made the blaze particularly difficult to put out. Because of the damage to the structure, it's not clear yet if the entire building will need to be razed. A layer of soot and a lingering stench blankets the area, including the other local businesses, many of whom are providing police with free food and drink.
Though jokes have been made about celebrities and Yorkville, the extent of the damage to this fabled haunt is shocking and much more significant than was visible yesterday in photos and news reports. Our thoughts go out to the owners and staff at Sassafraz in this particularly devastating time, and we hope that this historic corner icon will be rebuilt into its former celeb-soaked, air-kissing, see-and-be-seen glory.
Continue reading to see our exclusive photos of the extensive damage.
All photos by Marc Lostracco
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Wow...
Gut-wrenching? It's a building, trendy, but just a building.
For a building maybe 0.25% of Torontonians have actually patronized, I'm surprised so many are reacting with such earnest concern. Please let this non-news news die already.
By gut-wrenching, I mean that the owners' livelihood was destroyed in only a few hours and a lot of people are out of jobs -- right before Christmas too. As for the building, it's been a Yorkville landmark for many, many years and one of the few original-style buildings left there.
Nice pics Marc. It looks much worse in the day.
I think "Gut-wrenching" is a suitable word to describe this -- esp. for the large staff who are now without jobs.
It's easy to sit back and make jokes about celebrities and "yuppies", but to many of us locals this was a place to enjoy a drink, talk with friends and listen to live music. While I agree the food was mediocre, the staff has always been first rate, many of whom I consider to be friends.
Looking forward to the reopening -- perhaps they can add the mac & cheese back onto the menu. :)
Neil.
You can see how the restaurant used to look with their website's virtual tour. The Belair/Cumberland room is entirely gone. The restaurant area visible in the virtual tour also sustained much damage.
Is it just me, or is this the first time for anyone else to actually look into Sassafraz? I'm usually too poor to go inside.
LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL
XD XD XD XD XD
Can u tell i'm not sad. pbth
nice pic thou
I haven't been there since it was the Bel-Air Cafe, or the Too-Cool Cafe as we called it. There was always some doorknob outside leaning on his car with the gull-wing or scissor doors open for effect.
The building is definitely a landmark, I hope it manages to survive.
Strange side note.
Read Now magazine today. They have an ad for their New Year's Eve party in it.
Oops.
Definitely post about this tomrorow too. You wouldn't want to underdo the overkill.
...and the condo construction begins...
Seriously though, they'll probably build condos there.
Stinkin' condos!
D
I'd hardly call the photos "exclusive". They're all taken from behind the yellow tape. I was there today, and saw about 200 people taking photos of the scene, including one unscrupulous guy who ducked under the tape. HIS shots are exclusive, even if he did step on evidence to get them.
The only people I have sympathy for are the staff who are now without jobs. I'm sure the owners can afford to rebuild the place three times over. I Guess I just don't have much love for trendy hotspots which derives with worth by the fact that famous people patronize it. Is this more tragic than any other building burning down, say like a single family dwelling? Hardly, at best it makes for interesting photos.
Dave: The site isn't zoned for high-density development, so condos wouldn't be allowed (plus, the community would undoubtedly revolt). I think we've realized by now that too much of historic Yorkvile has already been razed.
Alain: The owners will have insurance to pay for the $2.5 million in damage, but it's still their livelihood and career that's gone, including the relationships and memories they've built with their clientele. Any restaurant owner has very tight ties to their building, no matter how low or high-end the restaurant is. This particular family has already dealt with tragedy when the original owner died in a car wreck a few years ago. Are they entitled to less sympathy because the restaurant was successful and solicited publicity? Please.
So what if the restaurant was trendy? People are hating on it just for that, but the reality was that it was a landmark, an iconic building in Yorkville, and most importantly, appropriate aesthetically for the neighbourhood, unlike most other Yorkville buildings today. Had it been a College Street hipster bar that burned, you'd all be crying in your Heinekens and lamenting about whatever act you saw there in some legendary performance before they sold-out. Really.
As for our coverage, it was two picture-posts of interesting imagery that suits a blog format really well. It was top story on every news network yesterday, we were able to get some snaps, and therefore it's newsworthy. People like to see photos of buildings burning; especially famous or notable ones. If two photos of the fire on the front page are too much for you, just skip to the next story. No big deal.
I could care less about the restaurant; but this was a beautiful building and I hope they manage to save it because if it has to be razed, whatever goes in there will be nowhere near as nice.
Where will all the dealers go for drinks and dinner now?
Nobody's "hating on" it because it was a trendy restaurant. The "hating on" (gah...) is because it's getting so much attention just because it was trendy. It would take a spectacular fire and possibly injuries for the vast majority of Toronto resturants to make front page news everywhere. This is more celebrity worship, just by proxy.
I agree with Marc Lostraccos response (15). From reading the posts, it does feel like a lot of people are "hating on" it because it was trendy. I think people have more interest in a fire that occurs in a place where they visited previously, even just once. And like it or not, many people have been there.
Why is it that those who are apparently tired of hearing about a story have so much to say about it?
If you're not interested, don't read about it, or post pointless blogs that declare to everyone how bored you are of the story.
I see just one (1) post that expresses any sort of positive feeling about the place being gone, and only one (1) that's even vaguely negative about the place.
And they're not even from this article! They're from the first "breaking news" (#9 and #18)! 2 posts out of 42 in two articles is hardly a deluge of "hating on".
Don't confuse indifference with hatred.
none of you work in the service industry obviously. many a server/cook was laughing last yesterday. the owners of sass are assholes of the highest level. you really should have seen the guys in my kitchen throwing high 5's upon it being mentioned.
Karma just came and bit the owner in the butt. No one should feel sorry for him. If you do, you definately don't know him.
its about time someones tells the truth. The place was a great place in a trendy area good or bad, the main thing is there is No sympathy for the owners. Why? Because they where assholes with communism traits. The amounts of people they fired for no reason and making people work like slaves with a smile has now backfired on them. The current owners never built the reputation that it used to have but they did build on the new one which was a poor ass one. Serving crap food to gansta, hilton, wanna be glitzy folks. Nothing wrong with that but the fact that they have no true loyal past employees. Take note people be nice to your employers.