The Franklin team is in good spirits despite the setback. All employees are still being paid, and some are bored enough to pick up shifts elsewhere. Franklin says he now has time for an occasional nap, and is excited to take on the new project of rebuilding. When they first built the pit room in 2014, it was done while the restaurant was operating. Now they get to focus on fixing what they didn’t like about the original. The roof will slope to allow for better ventilation, and noncombustible materials will make up more of the finishes. As for armchair pitmasters who questioned the lack of sprinklers in the pit room, Franklin said “with all the heat and smoke in here, they’d go off once a week.” The Franklins have also reflected on what this means for the whole Franklin crew. The first iteration of Franklin was about the couple and the expansion of the Franklin business. “This is about all of us. The entire team will pitch in and we’ll rebuild it together.”

Photograph by Wyatt McSpadden