By Kathleen Hill
Covered with ashes, a bakery case filled with croissants and pan dulce were about all that’s left of Eduardo Garcia’s Sonoma sweet shop.
A late-night blaze totaled Garcia’s Bakery Monday, resulted in severe damage to the business, with smoke and heat damage to the reception and dining areas and the complete destruction of the kitchen, according to the Press Democrat.
But that’s not the end of the bad news. The bakery also housed the popular pop-up pizzeria, New Haven APizza, run by Eduardo’s brother, Fernando. The pizzeria had recently expanded their hours to include lunch after a warm reception by locals.
Surveying the damage, Joelle C. Hanley, Vice President of Operations for property manager Meridian Commercial Property Management, said: “the kitchen is totally destroyed.” The shopping center is owned by Kasson Ranch, LLC, she said.
While Hanley wouldn’t allow reporters inside to see the kitchen “for liability reasons,” her phone video showed the entire kitchen blackened, insulation and beams hanging from the ceiling, and a floor covered with debris left from the blaze. Firefighters were able to keep the fire from spreading to other units in the small shopping center.
Speaking through an interpreter, Eduardo waxed philosophical about the loss of his business, saying, “Well, we can’t do anything about it except wait for everybody’s insurance companies to work it out.”