Beloved Kitsilano restaurant closes indefinitely after "devastating" fire

Feb 6 2023, 12:39 am

Owners of Robba da Matti, a local pasta restaurant in Kitsilano say they woke up to “disheartening” news Sunday morning.

Around 6 am, owners Matti Rikkinen and Valentina Crobu received a call from its neighbours, Be Fresh Local Market, who said they saw “smoke billowing out” from the restaurant.

The market called the fire department who arrived shortly.

Vancouver fire told Daily Hive crews found the fire within the wall cavity “on the exterior corner of the building higher up but on the first ground floor level.”

“The fire had made its way inside the wall cavity and up to the second-floor balcony area,” a spokesperson explained. “So crews had to dismantle a lot of the exterior of the wall. So there was a fair bit of damage done in finding all the hotspots.”

Courtesy Robba Da Matti

On Instagram, Robba da Matti shared the news of the fire and said it was closing its doors indefinitely.

Rikkinen said it’s too soon to say how the restaurant will be financially impacted or when it will reopen.

“There’s a lot of hoops that we have to jump, a lot of people that have to contribute to making sure that we know that building a safe. So we’ll have a lot more information when we meet up with the insurance adjusters tomorrow.”

Courtesy Robba Da Matti

Rikkinen said while “It’s pretty devastating as you can imagine,” he added, “The silver lining is nobody got hurt.”

“It was during a time when we were closed and so that in and of itself was a blessing.”

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Robba da Matti (@robba_damatti)


The Robba da Matti has been open for less than a year at 1898 West 1st Avenue.

An investigation into the fire is ongoing.

Courtesy Robba Da Matti

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