SALT LAKE CITY — One of Salt Lake City's most popular restaurants has once again opened its doors after being closed for months due to heavy water damage.
Manoli's chef and owner, Manoli Katsaneva, shared the story on what shuttered his restaurant since December because of an accident in the business upstairs. He said a quarter-inch pipe came undone from a water cooler, letting out gallons of water for hours overnight.
"It was just raining through the ceiling," he explained, "there was water going through all of the drywall, all over the floor, the equipment, the floors, the tables. Then it went through our basement level, so it just completely kind of destroyed the entire restaurant."
Katsanevas says damage costs have already topped $200,000 with the possibility of more to come. Without insurance, he doesn't know if his Manoli's would have recovered. And the damage couldn't have come at a worse time as the restaurant had just been nominated for a prestigious hospitality award.
"We got nominated for James Beard [Award] which is amazing, it's like the Oscar for restaurants and obviously we were elated to have it; it would've been awesome if we were open when we had it because I'm sure it would've boosted our business," Katsanevas said.
Manoli's was also expecting to be the food destination during NBA All-Star Weekend. When that all came to a halt, Manoli's still found a way to make some things happen during the closure.
"We were already contracted out by the NBA, so because of that we rented out a commissary kitchen and we still catered for three days straight, 8 hours a day over at the Hyatt for all the NBA All-Stars," the owner said.
On Tuesday, Manoli's was finally able to open its doors and allow customers to smell and taste what the owner himself describes as modern Greek food.
"We're only a 50-seat restaurant. We did over 100 covers last night and they were all regulars that have been coming here for the eight years we've been open," Katsanevas said. "It was just so cool to be able to see everyone again and hug everyone and say hi. It was probably one of the coolest services we ever worked."
