WILLIAMSVILLE, N.Y. -- Saturday during the Taste of Buffalo, the Jacobbi family lost Carmine's restaurant on Transit Road to a grease fire. Three generations spent 45 years building the family business, but despite the loss of the building, the owners aren't about to give up.
"Somebody told me that was driving by that they saw smoke coming out. Now, I have a wood burning brick oven, so I thought maybe it was just from the wood burning brick oven for pizza, they said no Michael, you have a problem," says owner Michael Jacobbi.
As Jacobbi was running Carmine's booth at the Taste of Buffalo, he got the call no restaurant owner wants to get.
"So I raced down here and when we got down here, we came upon this scene, this horrific scene and it's just kind of been an experience, an ordeal ever since," says Jacobbi.
Jacobbi is spending the week meeting with insurance adjusters and professional cleaners, but he's also reflecting on the memories he's made with his family.
"When my dad had the restaurant in 1970, I was a little boy, so you know, I used to bartend here, bus tables here, so I kind of grew up in it so there's some nostalgia involved, but yes, I suppose there will be a fresh start," says Jacobbi.
When firefighters got the flames under control Saturday afternoon and it was safe for them to go inside, they weren't able to recover much, but they did find something that means a lot to Jacobbi.
"One of the first things they came out with was a picture of my dad right by the front door. I had it right by the front door. He passed away about eleven years ago, so that was, you know, kind of a touching thing," he says.
Despite the loss of their restaurant, Carmine's staff remained dedicated to the Taste of Buffalo. They opened their tent Sunday even though they knew they'd run out of food and have to close early. They even won best seafood dish.
Jacobbi says he is grateful for all of the community support. He also spoke with us about the future of Carmine's.
"Probably going to take a number of months, so it's hard to say you know giving answers as far as the future goes, but we're in the restaurant business. He loves the restaurant business, so we're going to try to get it going, you know, pretty soon," he says.
Since they do a lot of catering, they are considering getting that operation back up and running, but they'd have to find a kitchen to work out of.
