Adele's restaurant, closed since March fire, won't re-open
Johnathan L. Wright
Adieu, Adele's.
The landmark Carson City restaurant will not re-open after being closed since late March because of fire damage, the Nevada Independent reported. Chef Charlie and Karen Abowd, the owners, are retiring after reaching an impasse with their insurance company.
As Karen Abowd told @RGJTaste in late September when the fate of the restaurant was still unclear, the owners and the insurance company remained about $500,000 apart on the estimated cost of repairing extensive smoke and water damage (about $1.5 million) and the insurance offer (about $1 million).
Firefighters were called to Adele's (formally, Café at Adele's) about 5:19 a.m. March 28 and saw smoke coming from a window near the back of the building, according to Carson City Fire Chief Sean Slamon.
Officials later determined the cause of the fire to be cleaning towels that spontaneously combusted in the laundry room. No one was inside the building at the time of the fire.
Previous:Here's why the fate of Adele's restaurant is unclear 6 months after fire
The place for political and business deals
Karen Abowd and her husband, chef Charlie Abowd, have owned and operated the restaurant for about 25 years. Charlie Abowd's parents opened the place in 1978, naming it for his late mother, Adele Abowd. His father, chef Paul Abowd, now in his 90s, still owns and cooks at Stone House Cafe in Reno.
Adele's is housed in a Comstock Victorian home built in 1864, the year Nevada became a state. The age of the building, with its signature sloping Mansard roof, could have complicated repairs.
The restaurant has long been popular with politicos, business leaders and other local worthies, and a chapter in Nevada political history could be written about the deals made at Adele's.
In the last 15 years, as the local food movement went mainstream, Charlie Abowd re-invented Adele's menu, diversifying its Continental standards with locally sourced ingredients, strong relationships with area farmers and international flavors.
In February 2018, about a year before the fire, the owners put Adele's up for sale. Even then, Charlie Abowd was looking to life beyond the restaurant.
"“I’ve missed a portion of my children’s lives running the restaurant. I’ve missed a portion of my grandchildren’s lives," he told @RGJTaste at the time. "Karen is not running for re-election (as a Carson City supervisor). We are retiring."
Previous:Fire breaks out in iconic Carson City restaurant Cafe at Adele's
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Johnathan L. Wright is the food and drink editor of RGJ Media, part of the USA Today Network. Join @RGJTaste on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.