Gourmet Glatt reopens after fire

As a crowd of customers gathered outside the store before noon, Gourmet Glatt Emporium in Cedarhurst reopened 12 days after the kosher food supermarket suffered a fire on Nov. 3.

The Tuesday reopening made customers smile, according to Yoeli Steinberg, a Gourmet Glatt general manager, who was one of many employees that oversaw the clean up, repair and restocking of the store at 137 Spruce Street.

“It’s a great day for Cedarhurst and a great day for our customers,” Steinberg said. “It was a trying experience for us, but our customers are smiling and it is a great day. “We are fully stocked and brimming with fresh food.”

At 12:39 a.m. on Nov. 3, the Lawrence-Cedarhurst Fire Department received the call that there was a fire at Gourmet Glatt. It began between a food preparation area and a refrigeration unit in the store’s basement, according to LCFD Chief Joseph Sperber, who noted that the store’s sprinkler system was also activated by the fire. Two employees at work at the time suffered smoke inhalation but were treated at the scene.

Declared under control 30 minutes later, it was deemed not suspicious and accidental by the Nassau County Fire Marshal. The cause was under investigation, but preliminary indications point to an electrical fire. Health Department officials also responded to the scene, along with firefighters from Inwood, Hewlett Woodmere and Valley Stream fire departments.

For nearly two weeks, Gourmet Glatt customers shopped at Seasons or Brach’s, two other kosher food stores in the area. Seasons took in Gourmet Glatt’s produce deliveries immediately after the fire and employees from both stores worked together at Seasons.

“It is something special,” Steinberg said about the reopening. “We were working hard for 12 days and looking outside the store it is paying off. A customer said ‘Black Friday’ came early.”