Robert Allen and Elisha Anderson

Detroit Free Press Staff

A fire that gutted the dining room and bar area of Katoi restaurant this morning in Detroit appears to have been started by burglars stealing liquor, a fire official said.



Nobody was injured in the fire reported at about 6:15 a.m., at Michigan Avenue and 17th Street in the city’s Corktown area. Arson investigators remained on the scene in the in the 2500 block of Michigan Avenue.

Detroit Deputy Fire Commissioner David Fornell said it appears burglars broke in the back door and set the fire to cover the break-in. A tote bag of liquor was found by the back door.

“We know the fire started in the area of the bar,” he said.

The kitchen is still relatively intact, Fornell said, noting there is smoke and water damage all over.

“How it started, we don’t know yet,” he told the Free Press.

[After hearing of the fire, Katoi's chef promised to 'rise again from the ashes...with a vengeance." Read more here.]

Investigators are reviewing surveillance video that may help with the investigation, Fornell said. The popular restaurant, a former gas station, was vacant at the time of the break-in.

Nemo's Bar, located less than a mile east of Katoi in the 1300 block of Michigan, was also broken into this morning, Detroit police spokeswoman Kenyetta Hebron said. It happened around 2:45 a.m.

A 4-foot by 8-foot window was smashed, burglars got inside and stole four bottles of liquor and an undisclosed amount of cash, she said. A security monitor was found damaged, and two cash drawers were found removed.

Hebron declined to comment on whether the break-ins could be related, but fire officials said that possibility is being investigated.

Firefighters responded to the fire at Katoi about three-and-a-half hours later at 6:12 a.m. The restaurant owners declined to comment.

“The owners are assessing the building,” Fornell said.

He said Corktown is a low fire area and called what happened today “unusual for that area.”

►Related: Best New Restaurant #1: Katoi, Detroit

The Free Press recently named Katoi No. 1 of the Top 10 new restaurants to open in 2016. And this week the restaurant was named a semifinalist in the best new restaurant category of the James Beard Awards, a national competition considered one of the culinary world's highest honors.

The Thai-inspired restaurant is located in a former Corktown auto repair garage.

Contact Elisha Anderson: eanderson@freepress.com or 313-222-5144. Follow on Twitter: @elishaanderson