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Fire at Restaurant Jezebel: Update
Restaurant Jezebel’s chef and owner, Parind Vora, says the fire that put him out of business Monday morning won’t be the fire that puts him out of business for good.
Maybe for a few months, but not permanently, especially when so much of his life is tied up in the building at 914 Congress Ave. “This is an extension of me. This is what I love to do,” Vora said on Tuesday.
Early indications are that the fire might have been electrical. The city has released the site back to Vora, and now the adjusters will work out the details, the causes, the finances for making things right.
So what’s next? Vora also has the wine bar, Simplicity (4801 Burnet Road, 419-0200, www.simplicitywinebar.com), and a new mid-priced bistro called Braise (2121 E. Sixth St., 478-8700, www.braiseaustin.com). He’s finding work there for as much of his staff as he can.
From the optimism that might have been drawn from early Austin Fire Department reports of a small fire, the scene is surprising in its barren blackness, the smell a whirled incense of ash and dry aromatic spice, water dripping from wrecked conduits like movie scenes from a dragon’s cave.
Jezebel’s jezebels are gone, the gallery of nudes by Tom Darrah fallen from the peeling plaster walls, one canvas lying like the Shroud of Turin across the front entry, the features of a woman barely traceable through the soot.
And the wine. Tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of rare and collectible bottles, cult and quirky rarities, some listing for $1,000 a bottle on a wine list that had great values in the $30s and magnificent finds in the $40s and beyond. All of it’s gone, the bottles as blackened and ashenly quiet as a scene from Pompeii.
In the big scheme of things, it was a small fire, one that flashed into a fireball then died quickly after it ate all the fuel in the front room, died gasping for oxygen in the tight confines of the antique stone building.
The fire didn’t bring down the building or cause injuries, but the restaurant space is in ruins, with chairs and tables frozen in stages of twisted ember and Dali-esque melted cascades. The new blinds are cosine heat waves across the front windows. The light fixtures hang like stalactites from a ruined future.
Vora said it’s a stroke of luck that the front windows didn’t blow out. The draft might have fed a blaze capable of consuming the building, spreading to Little City next door and beyond.
Credit the Fire Department for keeping the damage contained to Jezebel, where it spared the kitchen and back spaces. But fine ash has layered everything in soft focus. All the stock will have to be thrown away. Everything in the coolers, the freezers, all the spices and sauce bottles, the cheeses gone to waste.
For now, Vora said he has to figure out how much has been lost before he can figure out what needs to be rebuilt. Already, he’s talking about what he can do better when Jezebel comes back. The sari cloth he uses under the white linens was untouched by the fire. It’s ready when he is.
(American-Statesman photos)
Comments
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By forrest
July 27, 2010 10:51 PM | Link to this
Dear Mike,
Please explain the following:
“The scene is surprising in its barren blackness, the smell a whirled incense of ash and dry aromatic spice, water dripping from wrecked conduits like movie scenes from a dragon’s cave.”
By Joe Robinson
July 28, 2010 7:03 AM | Link to this
Call it karma. The guy’s a jerk and the food was aweful.
By Guillermo
July 28, 2010 10:28 AM | Link to this
Joe apparently does not know Parind any more than he knows how to spell.
Parind is a great guy and an excellent chef.
By Doug
July 28, 2010 11:06 AM | Link to this
This was and will continue to be one of our favorite high end restaurants in Austin. We did the Chef’s Tasting menu on several occasions with wine pairings and it was absolutely amazing! Really one of the top two dining experiences we’ve had in Austin! I wish him all the best and a speedy process to restore Jezebel to her glory!
By Anne Graham
July 28, 2010 11:59 AM | Link to this
I thought the food was wonderful. As a Concierge, I have sent many guests there and always received rave reviews. Joe should have tried the Dark El Rey chocolate Atlantic salmon, to die for! Good luck to Chef Parind. We hope to see you open soon! Anne, Concierge Lost Pines Hyatt
By DL
July 28, 2010 1:09 PM | Link to this
And speaking of Karma Joe Robinson, doesn’t look as if though your distasteful and cruel comment will lead you to good karma (hopefully).
By Joe Robinson Needs A Spelling Lesson
July 28, 2010 2:28 PM | Link to this
Joe,
Parine Vora is one of the nicest guys in the Austin restaurant scene, and his food is among the best in the city.
Not sure what ruined your experience at Jezebel… Maybe it was the food, or maybe someone just corrected your “aweful” spelling.
By Pick knitter
July 28, 2010 3:59 PM | Link to this
@Joe aweful…. full of awe? perhaps you meant to use awesome.
By Guillermo
July 28, 2010 6:59 PM | Link to this
Joe is as adept at judging food as he is at spelling. Also he has obviously never met Parind. Super nice guy and a talented chef.
By Forrest Preece
July 29, 2010 8:54 AM | Link to this
I am heartbroken about this terrible turn of events. Parind and his Restaurant Jezebel are treasures on the Austin food scene. All the people we took there (including a couple who run a large food festival in the NW) have been very impressed with the cuisine, service and ambiance. My wife and I enjoy dining out a lot— and Jezebel is on our A-list. I can’t wait for Parind to make a comeback here and we’ll be at the head of the line to get a reservation when he does. By the way, we went to Braise about two weeks ago and it was fantastic! And Simplicity has a lot going for it, too. We’ll be showing Parind support by visiting his other venues in the meantime.
By Luis Abreux
July 29, 2010 10:45 AM | Link to this
It was always good to pass by in the night and see the chef working, so focused in creating nice food for his clients. The owner always supports artists like me and is passionate and smart in what he does. I know he will come back because Austin needs him. In reference to the negative comment above by “Joe”, I imagine he is an animal judging by his writing and spelling. People who know the owner know he is a great person and only losers would speak of him in this way. -Cuban Dog Gallery
By Alejandro Duran
July 29, 2010 11:57 AM | Link to this
As a chef and restaurant owner, I can not for the life of me understand a coment like the one from Joe Robinson, but I guess there are a lot of idiot people in this world like Joe, and that is why the world is in the condition that it is. I personally know Parind, he is a really good person and probably one of the best chefs we have in Austin if not the best. Good luck my friend…..I know you will be up and running in no time!!!! You can not keep good people down!!!!
By Valerie Chambers
July 29, 2010 3:21 PM | Link to this
My Chamber of Commerce group made special lunch arrangements with him in February…25 plates of our previously selected entrees, and it was fabulous! I absolutely will visit again when he is up and running.
And Alejandro Duran, your restaurant, Malaga, rocks!
By Judith Darrah
July 30, 2010 9:46 PM | Link to this
As the artist, Tom Darrah’s wife, and as a friend of Parind’s, I know that Parind is an artist as well. His art is an experience that disappears almost at the moment of creation - from the solid ice cubes in crystal stemware to the magnificent palette of flavors that are Parind’s, Restaurant Jezebel was and will be again, a place where art communes and satifies the soul’s need for quality and beauty.
His vision is too strong to be stopped.