Khue's Kitchen destroyed in fire just weeks before opening
ST. PAUL, Minn. — A St. Paul restaurant was destroyed just weeks before opening.
The space, formerly occupied by Ngon Bistro, caught fire on Aug. 11. Just after 11 p.m., St. Paul fire crews worked to bust windows in an effort to get the two-alarm fire under control.
"I just got home after talking with the fire marshal, watching them put out the fire and I'm just sitting there like, 'No way this is happening to me, this happens to other people.'" said Khue's Kitchen chef and owner, Eric Pham.
Pham is just 24 years old but he's no stranger to the restaurant world. His grandmother opened Eat Street's popular Vietnamese restaurant Quang back in 1989.
Pham's restaurant, Khue's Kitchen, was already a pop-up at Bar Brava. With the new location at University and Avon in St. Paul's Frogtown neighborhood, Pham was looking at going full brick-and-mortar.
Pham, his team and his family worked tirelessly the last few weeks, getting his new restaurant off the ground, with plans to open next week. That was, until last week's fire.
An electrical fire in the dining room tore through a new bar and tables in an uncontrollable inferno, Pham said, with firefighters telling him the investigation into the cause is inconclusive.
Pham is now hoping to raise funds to replace lost equipment. While it's a massive setback, he said he's still hoping to make his restaurant dreams a reality.
"What else can you do except move forward," said Pham. "A lot of success stories start from failure and I don't want to be any different."