Popular downtown Walnut Creek restaurant devastated by fire

WALNUT CREEK — A fire that erupted Wednesday morning at Lettuce Restaurant & Catering, as staff prepped for the usual lunchtime rush, caused significant damage to the interior of the popular restaurant, a block from City Hall and across the street from the Lesher Center for the Arts.

The extent of the damage suggests that the restaurant, opened in 2009 at the corner of Locust Street and Civic Drive, will be closed for some time, according to Lauren Otto, the public information officer for the Contra Costa Fire Protection District.

Some 30 to 35 firefighters rushed to put out the fire after it was reported shortly before 8 a.m. Wednesday. Even though it caused extensive damage and spread through the building, Otto said the blaze was just one-alarm, and it caused no injuries to anyone who had been in the building. She also said the cause was still under investigation.

For nearly 20 years, the restaurant has been a popular, fast-casual lunch and dinner destination, known for its homemade soups and pastas, entree salads and specialty sandwiches, usually made as you watch. After it was opened by its late executive chef Bahman Tehrani, it gained a following among downtown workers, who liked its simple, elemental food, and among people needing to grab a quick, light, delicious dinner before attending a show at the Lesher Center.

A quick glimpse inside revealed that the restaurant’s white ceiling and walls in the kitchen and front and side dining areas had been totally blackened. Photos published by Mayor Kevin Wilk on Facebook also showed that the restaurant’s centerpiece, its glass-front counter that’s usually laden with fresh produce, meats and other salad and sandwich fixings, had partially collapsed.

On Thursday, dark curtains also hung over the large front windows looking over Locust Street, and the charred remains of tables, chairs and other debris were going into a growing pile in the small parking lot, which was fenced off with red hazard tape wrapped around it. Otto couldn’t confirm early reports that explosions were heard just before the fire erupted.

Otto said the owners of the restaurant and of the building will need to confer with their insurance companies on what can be salvaged and how long repairs could take on the building and on the restaurant, which also ran a catering service. Efforts to reach the current owner of Lettuce were unsuccessful Thursday.