FORTVILLE — After being closed to the public since New Year’s Eve, Bonsai Fortville has started business back up and reopened its doors for dine-in last week.
Back on New Year’s Eve, Tim Breunig, owner of Bonsai Fortville, was scrolling through social media when he realized the reports of a local building on fire were actually referring to his restaurant located on Main Street.
Breunig said that they had just closed up the restaurant for the night when the fire started soon after, and while it didn’t cause widespread fire damage, he said there was plenty of smoke damage done to the inside.
“It was tough to see everything ruined, you know?” Breunig said.
In order to clean the walls and ceiling from the smoke damage, Breunig said they had to clean with a baking soda solution that was sprayed on, and then everything was repainted.
Breunig said that most of the equipment was ruined.
While he was thankful that no one was inside or hurt during the fire, Breunig did say that one of the most devastating losses to the staff included a beloved fish friend nicknamed Swim Shady.
“I look at all the material loss, the refrigeration units and stuff like that, that stuff is OK and it doesn’t hold personal value but things like that (the fish) are tougher to deal with,” Breunig said.
Breunig originally opened Bonsai Fortville in November 2019 with the help of Rachel, his 20-year-old daughter. He said they chose Fortville because of the growing community. They also admired the diverse cuisine options for a small town and the historic look of the building, which was built in the early 1800s.
“I don’t know of any small town in Indiana this size where you find that variety — that international variety,” Breunig said.
To ease their way back into being open for business, Bonsai Fortville opened for about a week for carryout only. With his kitchen staff, Breunig said that time has provided them a great opportunity for training and being more in control of the environment.
Breunig also said that a good part of his team has returned, and he thanks them for their loyalty.
“They came and supported me immensely… helped me rebuild,” Breunig said. “Their loyalty — especially in today’s world — their loyalty is refreshing because a lot of people just look at jobs as jobs … but I had a quarter of people that didn’t share that mindset.”
Some final touches were still needed before fully reopening the restaurant, such as installing the bar sink and reordering alcohol. Breunig said that, with the reopening, he would eventually like to add more cuisine options to go along with the sushi options such as Kung Pao chicken and Beef and Broccoli.
Within a few weeks, Breunig would like to resume having the option of Doordash and Grubhub.
Breunig’s daughter has also been helping remotely while she is studying at Purdue, with tasks like getting the online menus updated and ready to go.
Breunig said restocking inventory and remembering every item and where it once was — even something as simple as printer paper — was one of many challenges.
Despite the setbacks they have faced along the way, Breunig maintained his faith and said in an online post that he could relate to the Book of Job after his experience.
“If it wasn’t for my faith in God, I’m not sure I would have made it through all this,” Breunig said.
Bonsai is back to its normal operating hours of 4-9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 4-10 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
