Kitchen fire just another setback

Talk of the Town closed

WEBSTER - Talk of the Town Pub & Grub in Webster had a fire Saturday morning, and will be closed for six to eight weeks as a result. Owner Mike “Nimzy” Niemszyk said the fire broke out in the kitchen when a freezer compressor overheated and a bag of linens nearby caught fire. Nimzy told us the kitchen will have to be gutted, the walls and ceilings replaced, and new appliances installed. He had officially opened the Main Street restaurant, formerly Isabella's, just five days before on August 6, after months of renovation and redecoration.

Nimzy called it “just another setback.”

Webster Fire Chief Brian Hickey described the order of events. Just prior to 5 a.m. the cook arrived at the building, opened the door, and was greeted by "smoke rolling out of the front door." He saw the fire in the kitchen, took a pan of water and put it out. "If he had been three or four minutes later," said Chief Hickey, "it would have been a conflagration."

The cook never had to call 911. It so happened that a police cruiser was driving by, saw the open door and the smoke, and called the fire department. The fire was out when they got there. "I feel bad for the guy (Nimzy)," said the fire chief. "He just opens up and this happens."

Soot and smoke from the fire has damaged the walls and many of the old photos, prints, posters, and Nimzy's collections of old telephones and other vintage memorabilia. Everything has to be removed from the building, he said, and then the walls have to be repainted and the carpeting replaced. Most of the decorations can be saved, fortunately.The work will start next Tuesday and will take six weeks or more to complete. Nimzy estimates the damage at $150,000.