There is an eerie atmosphere on Prospect Road. The street is quieter than usual. A few coffee shops are full of customers, but there is a feeling of sadness in the air. Rosemont Hall, home of Mr. Chan and Sunny’s shop, is boarded up. Construction fences demarcate the area. Workers clear away the last of the rubble and bent metal. An ornamental parrot, whose plastic wing has broken off, hangs on the fence – one of the last remaining pieces of jewelry from the two restaurants that probably dominated the inner northern strip for five years. Since the fire that destroyed Rosemont Hall last week, customers have treated the loss like the death of a community member. Outside in the rear parking lot, well-wishers have left flowers, cards and photos on temporary fences. There’s some hope among the news: “We can’t wait to see what you do next.” “My life is unrecognizable,” owner Aaron Ratanatray told Broadsheet a week later. We’re in his house, just behind the Rosemont Hall parking lot. Ratanatray has hardly left the house since the fire. In a video diary posted on Instagram this week, he says he was “psychologically affected” by the loss of his business. “My routine [usually] I get up, water my plants, I shower and then I go to the store and meet with the bartenders or the vendors. That’s all gone. “I had this feeling of absolute loss and devastation. I felt ashamed in some ways or that I was responsible. I felt humiliation … It’s like you’re a captain of a ship, crashing into something and sinking the boat. I didn’t know what started the fire at the time, but it was my shop and I felt responsible. ”Ratanatray says he received a phone call on Thursday, September 16 at 4am telling him that the Rosemont Hall alarm system has gone off. He and his partner Tamara Lee checked the restaurant’s video surveillance and found it was not working. Then he remembers how he smelled smoke. “Like a parent who has a child and sees it in pain or something, you want to be there and try to solve the problem, so at that point we just panicked,” he recalls. “We didn’t know how big the fire was. I thought I could take a hose in and just take it out. ”Investigators assume that the fire started at 2am. Up to 60 firefighters arrived around 4 a.m., at which point the fire was already raging. It took about an hour for the crews to contain it. Nearby residents, including Prospect Mayor David O’Loughlin, lined the street and watched as the fierce fire struck the 97-year-old building. Investigators discovered this week that the fire accidentally broke out, although the cause is still unknown. “The building is mostly made of wood. There were so many flammable things in there too, including everything behind the bar, gas, chemicals, oil. It really was the perfect storm. ”Rosemont Hall also had a deep, personal connection with Ratanatray. He grew up in Prospect and, as a child, drove to Rosemont Hall to buy candy. His parents, One and Phanh Ratanatray, opened the Golden Phoenix Chinese restaurant in the neighborhood in 1978. When Rosemont Hall went up for sale in 2015, he jumped on it. Sunny’s shop opened in 2016 serving Pan-Asian street food, and Mr. Chan opened the following year. “The whole idea wasn’t so much about a particular food or drink, it was just a feeling. I wanted to create a place where people could come together. ”After building a close community, he was not so much surprised at the outpouring of love after the fire as how far it came. “I think it’s extended to people from all over Adelaide,” he says. “The people from Strathalbyn say that they will come to visit. “I’ve had a lot of customers saying, ‘You cooked for us, let’s cook for you this time,’ and people dropped lasagna on my door and fried chicken. It’s really, really touching and one of the ways I stay positive about this – knowing that the people are behind me. ”A Go Fund Me page that a client set up to share with Ratanatray and his family support, has raised $ 2520 so far. Ratanatray, who says it was one of the hardest things to hire his employees, will split the money among his 50 employees. Ratanatray tells Broadsheet that he wants to rebuild, but in what form he’s not sure. He is currently trying to get council approval for a pop-up at his home. He has a large kitchen – complete with dry storage – in the backyard, where he tries out new dishes. He now hopes to use it for take away. The pop-up is not associated with Mr. Chan or Sunny’s shop, but traded under the name of his family’s original restaurant: Golden Phoenix. “I think this name is so symbolic right now.” rosemonthall.com.au
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