Esca and Bar Florentin, two of the eateries owned by Jewish restauranteur Ben Poremba, sustained significant damage when a powerful storm and tornado hit St. Louis on Friday, May 16. Both restaurants are closed while repair crews assess the damage and rebuild. That effort has already begun but has been hampered by the loss of electricity, Poremba said.
“As soon as we get power, things will become a whole lot different, but we don’t have power or gas in the buildings now,” Poremba said. “We cleaned up real good and removed any debris. So, it’s just damaged furniture, some damaged equipment and a lot of broken glass, but that’s all easy to replace. It’s really what
ever structural damage that is being assessed, if there is any.
“We know that at Esca our AC units flew off, so those are going to have to get replaced,” he said. “But Spire and Ameren are going to go property by property and then assess how quickly they can get gas and power restored.”
Nearly 5,000 buildings were impacted by the storm. Downed trees, debris and flattened buildings in midtown are a setback for the growth of businesses in the Delmar Maker District between Union and Kingshighway Boulevards. Those include Poremba’s Olio, which his Bengelina Hospitality Group had planned to open soon. The popular restaurant known for its egg salad relocated from its original Botanical Heights location.
The damage to Poremba’s restaurants was not catastrophic and he anticipates reopening, but said the time frame is hard to estimate.
“In the grand scheme of things, our roofs didn’t cave in, we didn’t have any visible structural damage, with some holes here and there in the ceiling, but nothing that can’t be quickly patched, and a lot of broken windows,” he said. “But again, nothing that can’t be replaced.”
On social media, Poremba thanked friends for their support and expressed concern for the financial well-being his temporarily displaced employees. He suggested the best way to help is by donating to a fund established by @stlbucketlist. The organization has scheduled a tornado relief night at City Foundry on Wednesday, May 21 from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m.
