Rising from the ashes: The Press Cafe & Bistro prepares to reopen

It’s been a long year for two local business owners after their restaurant was rocked by a kitchen fire, forcing them to gut the place and start over.

“Like just absolutely destroyed… and so the fire started right here,” Tara Sears said.

The Press Cafe & Bistro is rising from the ashes and the owners are looking to re-open their establishment soon.

“Hopefully by the end of the month we’ll be up and running,” Sears said optimistically.

Tara Sears and Shaun Morrison own the Press Cafe & Bistro and have been in business since 2015. It’s a major hotspot in town for coffee and sandwiches, like the Monte Cristo.

One night in Yuma, their world was rocked.

“Spontaneous combustion in our kitchen,” Sears said.

On February 19, 2018, fire investigators determined a fire started in the kitchen in rags used for cleaning that self-heated.

“We had a fridge right here that exploded,” Sears recalled.

The restaurant also suffered major smoke and heat damage.

“This is five years of my life and my work just gone in an instant,” said Sears.

There was too much damage for them to stay open, so the two had to rebuild from scratch.

“Well, it’s a lot of work rebuilding a restaurant, so we’ve been busy,” Morrison exclaimed.

They’ve been busy with renovations and new additions.

Sears and Morrison reached out to Lia Littlewood with the Littlewood Fine Art & Community Co-Op to see if she could put her magic touch on their restaurant.

“We created this really cool mural design that really pushed the limits, the city limits, on murals,” Littlewood said.

Littlewood said the mural perfectly represents The Press Cafe & Bistro with hints of Yuma.

“We definitely wanted to incorporate what they make – which is delicious sandwiches – and then of course, coffee and including Yuma, which is the awesome purple mountains, desert scene, all the animals,” added Littlewood.

“We were overwhelmed when we saw it, we love it so much,” the owners said.

Through all the work and the pain, Sears and Morrison are grateful for the positive community feedback.

“We were flooded with heartfelt messages and condolences and well-wishes – it was overwhelming and it was appreciated,” Morrison said.

“We’re rooting for you guys, we hope you’re going to open soon, like we’ll definitely be back. So, that’s meant more than people know… I didn’t wanna answer because I was gonna cry,” Sears added.

Sears and Morrison said to News 11 to expect new menu items, like vegan and vegetarian options and faster equipment.

For updates, check out The Press Cafe & Bistro on Facebook.