{"id":296585,"date":"2025-12-24T13:24:34","date_gmt":"2025-12-24T11:24:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/paarlpost\/?p=296585"},"modified":"2025-12-24T13:24:55","modified_gmt":"2025-12-24T11:24:55","slug":"outpouring-of-support-after-fire-guts-popular-cucina-di-giovanni-restaurant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/paarlpost\/outpouring-of-support-after-fire-guts-popular-cucina-di-giovanni-restaurant\/","title":{"rendered":"Outpouring of support after fire guts popular Cucina Di Giovanni restaurant"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

PAARL<\/strong> – Despite watching his restaurant go up in flames, Stelios Coutsides says he feels immensely grateful for the outpouring of support since the incident.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coutsides is the owner of the well-known Cucina Di Giovanni restaurant that is situated on the property of the Laborie Estate in Paarl. On Saturday (20 December) shortly after midday a fire broke out destroying the restaurant and the first wing of the accommodation facilities, said the Drakenstein Municipality in a statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Everybody asks me [how I feel after what happened]. I don’t even know – what do I answer? Honestly there are no words. You can’t describe how you feel when you’re watching something that you’ve built up since 2017 and it goes up in flames in front of you. The support of the Paarl people has just been phenomenal. Everybody is just reaching out and wants me to bounce back. It is tough and then there’s also the staff. I mean what do you do with the staff, because the restaurant could take months to restore it,” says Coutsides.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Municipal firefighters with the support of firefighters from Stellenbosch Municipality, Cape Winelands District Municipality (CWDM), the Fire Protection Association (FPA) and Drakenstein Farm Watch (DFW) Fire & Rescue NPC worked together to contain the flames.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“FPA-deployed helicopters assisted ground crews with aerial water drops during the containment phase,” the statement continues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An investigation is still underway to determine the cause of the fire. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A post shared by Laborie Heritage Wine Estate (@laborieestate)<\/a><\/p><\/div><\/blockquote>\n