Assembly Row’s Salt + Stone will reopen July 10, five months after a kitchen fire forced the restaurant to close.
Grease buildup in an oven exhaust duct caught fire during dinner service Feb. 3, hours before the pipe was scheduled to be cleaned. “The restaurant sustained significant fire, smoke, and water damage,” according to the Somerville Fire Department. The apartments above the restaurant in the six-story building were spared.
“We’ve gotten a lot of wonderful notes from customers, ones that we didn’t even know, expressing their sorrow that it happened and looking forward to coming back,” said Sean Olson, the restaurant’s owner, who was on vacation when the fire broke out. Over the past five months, Olson oversaw the installation of a new exhaust system, duct work, tiling, and cook line in Salt + Stone’s kitchen.
The new, larger cook line — the main cooking preparation area — will allow the
restaurant to serve an expanded menu, Olson said. The additions include a seafood
tower, spicy lobster rigatoni, fire-grilled peri peri chicken, and oven-braised short rib.
Salt + Stone retained most of its staff because the restaurant’s insurance policy funded payroll during the closure. The core management team, chef, almost all of the culinary staff, and half of the wait staff stayed on, leaving only a full bartending staff to be newly hired, Olson said.
“I’m very excited to reopen and have customers back,” Olson said, adding that he’s not ready to retire yet. Olson has been in the restaurant industry for 40 years with his wife, Sue, whom he met when they were both waiting tables at the Fenmore Room at Fenway Park. The two went on to own and operate several franchise restaurants before opening Salt + Stone, their first independent restaurant, in February 2022.
A stronger
Please consider making a financial contribution to maintain, expand and improve Cambridge Day.
We are now a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and all donations are tax deductible.
Please consider a recurring contribution.