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Calm down everyone. The $4 toast made it out okay. The Mill, Alamo Square's incredibly hip (
and incredibly delicious) bakery/coffeehouse, was shut down unexpectedly last night following a small chimney fire.
A buildup of flour in the bakery's chimney flue caught fire, and quickly reached up to the ceiling around the oven. The fire broke out during a pop-up dinner put on by chef David Wilcox, who single-handedly put out the fire by jumping on a staff member's back and snuffing out the fire on top of the bakery's bread oven. The fire was quickly put out, the building evacuated, and the customer's money refunded. No injuries have been reported.
The Mill's fire isn't the first to scare restaurateurs this year. This past March, iconic Berkeley restaurant Chez Panisse
was damaged by a fire, resulting in significant damage to it's patio and exterior façade. More recently, Los Gatos' Michelin-starred restaurant Manresa was f
orced to close following a large fire that resulted in over $300,000 in damages. The restaurant has yet to reopen.
The fire didn't cause any permanent damage to the building, and The Mill is open for business this morning, as usual, fortunate for those of us who just can't start our week without some expensive toast.
