February 22, 2004 -- Call it the curse of the Time Warner Building.
The latest in a long line of tribulations to plague the $1.7 billion Columbus Circle complex hit yesterday, when an electrical fire swept through the kitchen of chef Thomas Keller's Per Se restaurant, closing the swanky eatery just five days after it opened.
The sudden afternoon blaze devastated the kitchen and caused smoke and water damage in the dining area of the multimillion-dollar eatery, which already has a monthlong reservations list.
Per Se's general manger yesterday said diners were called and told to stay home, while the fire damage was still being assessed in the out-of-luck restaurant.
"We are not opening tonight and we probably won't be open tomorrow night either, said manager Laura Cunningham yesterday. "We're just looking at the damage now."
Cunningham said she wouldn't speculate if the eatery would be open next week.
Deputy Fire Chief Mark Cuccurullo said the 4:35 p.m. fire started in wiring in the walls in the floor below Per Se, which is due to house new Time Warner Inc. offices and CNN studios.
Witnesses said there was a strong smell of smoke coming from the new studios. CNN did not return calls for comment last night.
Firefighters were forced to break down Per Se's kitchen walls to examine the wiring. A firefighter broke his finger in the process. No one else was injured because only a few restaurant employees were present when the blaze sparked.
The new restaurant is located on the fourth floor of a five-story mall in the building - where construction began in 2000.
Water poured out onto the floors below and cascaded into a new Solstice eyeglass store situated directly under the restaurant.
Per Se is the sister restaurant to Keller's tony eatery, The French Laundry, in Napa Valley, Calif.
Per Se opened with a celebrity-packed Feb. 4 gala attended by such boldface names as Mayor Bloomberg, Gov. Pataki, Cindy Crawford and Calvin Klein.
The fire follows another strange blaze that broke out in the new 54-story towers in April during a snowstorm.
In May 2002, tons of steel fell six stories to the sidewalk when a sling on a crane snapped. That followed a 2000 collapse of concrete building material that trapped two workers.
The worst incident came in September 2002, when a construction worker was killed when he was hit by a 12-foot board that blew off the building while he ate pizza in front of the site.
"It's almost as if there is a ghost that possessed the place. I hope that nothing else happens," said Barbara Goldberg, 36, who turned up to check out Per Se yesterday but was turned away.
