April 05--"The wood-burning oven is fired up. So is the staff."
Thus did Xoco (449 N. Clark St.), closed since March 22 after a small roof fire, announce its return to business.
"It was a freak accident, really," Rick Bayless said through a spokesperson. "A still-burning splinter from a log in the wood-burning oven went up the chimney and got lodged at the top. That created a lot of smoke but no flames. The CFD arrived in a hurry -- thankfully they're right next to us on Illinois Street -- and ripped up some walls to access the ducts. We had to replace a lot of that ductwork, which took longer than expected."
The restaurant will reopen at 5 p.m. Tuesday, April 5.
Phil Vettel is a Tribune critic.
pvettel@tribpub.com
Twitter @philvettel
