The owner of the internationally renowned eatery, Mushroom Lounge in posh suburb of Umhlanga, north of Durban, Sibongiseni Mbambo, has assured patrons that his place was fully functional and not affected by the fire incident that gutted another eatery neighbouring his.
Little Havana, which is on the top floor of the Mushroom Lounge, caught fire on Tuesday night and many people who saw the fire thought it was the Mushroom Lounge that was on fire. Some even shared pictures and videos of the fire saying the eatery had been destroyed by fire.
In an interview with Independent Media on Wednesday, Mbambo said his place was open for business and was not affected by the incident. He said after receiving a lot of calls from the people alerting him about the fire, he rushed to his place only to find that it was a restaurant that shares the building that was burning.
“I wish to assure our patrons that it is business as usual in our restaurant and it was not our place that caught fire. I wish to thank people that sent comforting messages to me, thinking it was my business. I’m also happy that the fire did not cause major damage to my fellow businessman that owns the Little Havana,” said Mbambo.
He said according to the information he received, the fire was caused by the faulty air conditioning machine but it was quickly doused by the eThekwini fire department team.
The restaurant was visited by the eThekwini mayor Cyril Xaba, who also dined there.
The eatery, which is the first black-owned in a string of eateries in the suburbs, received a major international boost after it was invited to showcase its traditional food in New York in September, barely a year after it was established. The place was opened in March last year and within a month, it had attracted top dignitaries including King Misuzulu, who commended the restaurant for serving traditional food in a diverse market.
eThekwini fire department said the fire was caused by the faulty air conditioning machine, however, there were no injuries and it was contained to the restaurant.
