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AARON SHAROCKMAN and RICHARD RAEKEThursday's events are canceled after a small fire starts in heating ducts, but the restaurant expects to reopen today for lunch.
TARPON SPRINGS - The morning crew arrived at Louis Pappas' Riverside Restaurant before 8 a.m. Thursday to start preparations for a day when they expected more than 2,000 customers.
They sliced vegetables. They prepared fish.
They smelled smoke.
It wasn't coming from the grill.
It was a hidden fire that, although minor, ended up closing the Tarpon Springs landmark for the day, costing the restaurant $30,000 in lost business.
"It smelled like when you turn on the heat for the first time in a year," said sous chef Danny Yappel, who opened the restaurant at the end of Dodecanese Boulevard.
A haze came down from the ceiling. Members of the morning crew yelled to each other across the kitchen and down the laundry chute to get out.
Yappel went to the front door to let in the firefighters.
"By the time I got there the entire lobby was white," Yappel said. "I couldn't see my hand in front of my face."
Before 8:30 a.m. Thursday, a small fire started in the heating ducts between floors of the 1,000-seat restaurant, authorities said. No one was injured and the building suffered minor damage, mainly from firefighters searching for additional flames, said one of the restaurant's owners, Michael Kastrenakes.
"I'm in the dining room right now, and I hardly smell any smoke," said Kastrenakes, 40. ". . . You wouldn't even know there was a fire."
Jimmy Melissas, who owns Pappas' along with Kastrenakes and a third family, said the restaurant will reopen at 11 a.m. today for lunch. Thursday evening, they were working on restoring power and testing the heating system.
No food was damaged during the fire, he said.
"Our main concern is that whatever caused this doesn't happen again," he said.
Fire officials were at the scene until 4:30 p.m. Thursday, and the road in front of the building was closed much of the day.
Tarpons Springs Fire Rescue Capt. Donald Sayre said a contractor was testing a new heating system when he saw smoke and called 911. The restaurant was upgrading the system in the 28-year-old, 48,000-square-foot building.
Sayre said portions of the fiberglass heating duct caught on fire.
"Every time we thought we had it under control, smoke would release," Sayre said. It took six hours before firefighters extinguished all the embers.
The restaurant was preparing for a weekly Rotary Club luncheon when the small fire erupted. Michael Mattia, president of the Rotary Club of Tarpon Springs, said as many as 70 club members and their guests were looking forward to a holiday party.
"The chorus from the high school was going to come over; it was going to be nice," Mattia said. We always have a really nice affair. Unfortunately, it didn't get to happen this year."
The restaurant also had to cancel six private parties scheduled for Thursday night, Melissas said. In all, it lost about $30,000 in business, he said.
Linda Burgett, a server at Louis Pappas', came to work shortly before 10 a.m. only to see firefighters standing on the roof. She said groups had booked the restaurant straight through the holidays.
Burgett lost more than $100 when she was sent home from her lunch shift, she said. She hoped the restaurant is open tonight, when she works again.
"This is a real disappointment," said Burgett, who has worked at Pappas' since March. "Especially now, at Christmastime."
- Aaron Sharockman can be reached at 771-4303 or asharockman@sptimes.com