Tasting The Bank in Helmond will probably not be able to open in the coming months. After the fire on Tuesday evening, the technical space of the restaurant was completely destroyed. “And that while we have to have it from summer,” says owner Björn van de Brug.
On Tuesday evening at ten past nine a fire broke out on the second floor of the Helmond restaurant. The kitchen staff had just started brushing, waiters brought away the last desserts of the evening and the terraces were still packed.
The fire started in the technical room of the restaurant. “It seems like it was a short circuit with the big cooling. Because yes, they are of course full when it is 34 degrees,” says Van de Brug. The actual cause of the fire is still being investigated. The damage to tasting The bank is in any case enormous.
Cloth over it
Although Van de Brug first thought that the damage was not too bad. “When I walked in again for the first time on Tuesday evening, I thought: oh, just a cloth over it and then we can open again tomorrow.” The technical room of the restaurant was closed with fire -safe material, so that the damage in the lower two floors of the restaurant was limited.
“But all my equipment is gone. I no longer have cooling, no CVs, no extraction, no ventilation, nothing.” Van der Brug says that the technical space is ‘the heart’ of his company. “Without that equipment we can’t open the restaurant.”
Although you can call it happiness in an accident. Namely, if the fire had been skipped on one of the other catering establishments that Van de Brug owns on Havenweg, the damage would not have been ‘not to be overlooked’.
“The staff has helped clean up all the rubble in recent days,” says the owner. Although there will not be that much work for them in the coming period. “I can use some employees at one of my other things, but unfortunately I can’t get rid of everyone somewhere.”
“If installers are at work, it is not desirable to be open.”
Tasting The Bank is one of the busiest terraces on Havenplein in Helmond. And with the summer temperatures and the castle garden concerts, Van der Brug had expected great pressure.
The owner is considering only selling drinks on his terrace, although he doubts whether that is handy. “The guests come here especially because it is a restaurant. If fifteen installers are going on and I can only sell drinks, it is also not desirable to be open.”
The catering boss has already extended the opening hours of his other matters, so that he can at least catch some of the guests. Guests who have made a reservation are also requested to reserve in one of his other things on Havenweg. Next week Van der Brug hopes to know more about when the case can open again.
Restaurant’s terrace was still completely full of guests
