Arson Destroys More Than A Building

John Guarisco feels like he’s lost a family member. In a way, he has.

The suspicious fire that roared through his Valley restaurant 10 days ago destroyed the kitchen where his father cooked his famous “secret meatballs.” It destroyed the dining room where his mother served chicken cacciatore, chicken parmesan and other traditional Italian dishes passed down through the Guarisco family.

The early morning fire forever blackened irreplaceable family portraits that hung on the restaurant’s walls, including five ancestral photos from Italy in their original 19th century frames.

“It’s kind of a death,” said the 33-year-old Guarisco, who left an advertising job in the early 1990s to help run a downtown Italian restaurant. He and his wife, Katie, opened up Giovanni’s on South Dishman-Mica Road in early 1997.

An arsonist destroyed it on Oct. 25.

“It’s pretty much a total loss,” said Valley Fire Marshal Paul Chase, who believes someone purposely ignited a pile of cardboard and recyclables stacked against the building.

So far there are no suspects.

The building’s wooden walls and cedar shake roofing fueled the blaze, investigators said.

“It’s like having kindling over your whole attic,” Chase said. The fire hit right as Giovanni’s was entering a busy season. It has left Guarisco with numerous regrets.

He regrets not making copies of his precious family photos. He regrets storing combustibles so close to the building. And he regrets not keeping his insurance policy updated.

He hopes other businesses, at least, will learn from his mistakes.

“Pull your insurance policy out and make sure you’re covered for everything,” said the restaurant owner, who has spent the last week and a half trying to recall and put a value to all of the equipment purchases and business changes he never mentioned to his insurance company.

“We’re at the mercy of our insurance coverages,” he said.

Guarisco hopes to collect enough money to reopen Giovanni’s in the same location. He’d like to be back in business in three to four months, when the new building is completed.

REWARD OFFERED A reward is being offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the arsonist responsible for the Oct. 25 fire at Giovanni’s restaurant. Anyone with a tip is asked to call 1-800-55-ARSON.