An early morning fire broke out in Encinitas last night around midnight, destroying four businesses before being subdued.
A little after midnight last night, a fire broke out at Mozy Cafe in Leucadia, which quickly engulfed the shared space destroying the 1900s-era building that also housed Peace Pies restaurant, Shatto & Sons T-Shirts and the Cali Life art gallery. Dozens of firefighters from multiple area departments took hours to get the blaze under control through the morning. A handful of residents of nearby apartments also had to be evacuated. Even a large section of Coast Highway 101 was closed in both directions for several hours as firefighters worked to contain the fire.
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| The property before the fire. |
Two GoFundMe pages - one for Cali Life and one for all four of the businesses - have already been established in an attempt to assist in raising money for rebuilding. There is still no word on what caused the fire and no injuries have been reported.
Mozy Cafe is a Caribbean-inspired healthy breakfast restaurant that recently came under new ownership after being purchased by South Africa-native Gary Grassi, who grew up in a family of Italian restaurateurs and previously operated La Vache Bistro in Hillcrest and La Jolla and Uropa Café. Gary operated Mozy with the help of his children, Evanna and Lucca Grassi.
