It’s been a crazy couple of weeks for Kevin Rathbun and a couple of his namesake restaurants.
First, there was a kitchen fire at Rathbun’s in Inman Park that caused smoke and water damage and has kept the restaurant closed since July 4 while repairs and renovations are underway.
Then on July 5 there was a power outage at KR SteakBar in Peachtree Hills that caused smoke from the wood-fired grill to billow from the kitchen and set off alarms, prompting a 45-minute evacuation and interruption of dinner service.
Those events pale in comparison with what happened Thursday.
While sorting through the damage at Rathbun’s and helping with the cleanup, Rathbun managed to trip on conduit and fall through the drop ceiling. Luckily, he was above a freezer, which broke his fall on the way to floor. He did wind up fracturing an ankle, though.
“I could have landed on my head,” Rathbun said. “But I wound up pretty unscathed, even if I need to be in a cast for the next six weeks, and maybe have a screw in my ankle. It could have been a lot worse.”
He hopes Rathbun’s will reopen in a week or two.
And he did get a bit of good news Friday, when the Daily Meal published America’s 20 Best Steakhouses. Kevin Rathbun Steak landed at No. 5 on a list that includes Peter Luger in New York and Bern’s in Tampa.
“I think that’s fantastic,” Rathbun said. “That’s the best news I’ve heard in about 24 hours. It makes my heart sing. A Kansas City boy done good with a steakhouse. And we need all the business we can get down there since we don’t have the business at Rathbun’s.”
About the Author
