WESTWOOD, N.J.—An apparent fire at the popular Tuscany-inspired Caffe Anello in Westwood was under control at 10:50 a.m., with volunteer firefighters and area police working inside and outside the scene.
The restaurant quickly reopened after the contained fire, said Chef John Vitale, who appeared safe outside of his Madison Avenue location amid the emergency response this morning.
“Fire never made its way into the building,” said Vitale in a text message, “it was in the stack above the roof.”
Traffic was closed on Washington Avenue, with Westwood and Hillsdale volunteer fire departments on the scene, as well as police and ambulance workers.
A Westwood Volunteer Fire Department spokesperson was not immediately available to comment.
Caffe Anello confirmed in a message to Pascack Press that the fire, contained to a roaster, was quickly dealt with by firefighters.
The restaurant is scheduled to host a 5 p.m. pop-up tasting dinner today featuring the famed Rimessa Roscioli of Rome, Italy. The event will go forward as planned, Vitale said.
“We are just happy it was not as serious as it could have been,” he said. “The Westwood police and fire departments were here within minutes. They deserve all the praise and our family is grateful for their professionalism.”
The reservations-only Caffe Anello—which is also Songo Coffeehouse in the mornings and afternoons—moved from its Broadway location into 11 Madison Park when the redeveloped site first opened about two years ago. The building also contains second- and third-story apartments, known as Eleven Madison Park, described as a state-of-the-art luxury apartment building in recent real estate advertisements.
The site had housed the former Valley Ford, which was demolished in December 2014.
Pascack Press reported in 2016, during a zoning board approvals process, that the property is owned by Bruce Meisel, a well-known local landlord and developer, who was also president and CEO of Pascack Community Bank, before it was acquired by Lakeland Bankcorp in 2010.
Vitale operates Caffe Anello with his wife Alissa Napoletano Vitale. They were inspired by to create an open kitchen restaurant during their honeymoon trip to Tuscany, they write on their website.