Restauration, the 4th Street bistro and patio owned by Dana Tanner and chef Philip Pretty, suddenly caught fire early Thursday morning, but firefighters rushed to extinguish the flames before the whole restaurant burned.

“Never did I think I would be pulling an all-nighter because of something like this,” said Tanner. “Thankfully, everyone is safe and, unthankfully, we are closed until we figure out how long it takes to rebuild and repair. In the least, the entire structure was not destroyed. Let the journey for this surreal twist begin.”

The restaurant, located at 2708 E. Fourth St., shared the news via Facebook just hours ago:

https://www.facebook.com/restaurationlb/posts/2096827177046326?__xts__[0]=68.ARCQHPe9wK0XptDwQgI1q4kINRfSHGbiAAvm7_zGBpBY4XmY8pNRXPiU6reO-AevHAoRee81MVXFNNkgKSAAhyrtG1nmXNP_USYNuiwz9cRSf7xEVZElwqbePguuAUZlAisQPPeXDn6iVMHH7qhxENVoCqTha05sj5BIzOhcerozdxbJKACREJmULo19WXRatQG4THgTeDxcgKbDZJWmxhFidOw&__tn__=-R

“It’s a gut-wrenching and heartbreaking moment to have something you own and worked so hard to achieve pulled away from you while you sleep without knowing,” said Pretty. “The community has reached out in huge numbers—which has been an overwhelming feeling of love. We will rebuild a stronger Restauration and come back ready to fill bellies.”

According to Tanner, the cause of the fire remains unknown. A fire official said the blaze started around midnight and crews had the flames doused in about 20 minutes. They’re still investigating what started the blaze, Long Beach Fire Department Capt. Jack Crabtree said.

Having opened in 2014, Restauration took over a building that had long been mired with unsuccessful restaurants. Since then, it has long held a reputation for upping the city’s food game (and was named by the Post as one of the city’s best restaurants), especially since Tanner took on chef Pretty as its head-of-kitchen.

The pair—Tanner made Pretty a full-time partner in the restaurant shortly after hiring him—made the restaurant boom with creativity, color, and coolness while its community involvement increased, partially because of the pair’s support of urban farming. Restauration has its own plot at Organic Harvest Gardens in North Long Beach, where it procures over half of its produce. Pretty visits three times a week while the garden, in return, visits Restauration twice a week.

Until reopening, it will certainly be a loss within the food community.

“I really just want to send a personal thank you to Long Beach Fire Department for saving our little restaurant—they were true saviors,” Tanner said.

Breaking News Editor Jeremiah Dobruck contributed to this report.