Farmingdale restaurant expected to take months to reopen after fire

A fire Thursday morning has closed Farmingdale's Lotus restaurant, a Chinese-Japanese fusion eatery, and it’s expected to take two months or longer to reopen, the owner said Thursday.

The fire's cause was apparently electrical, said the owner, Michael Chang, whose restaurant at 345 Conklin St. has been open for more than 30 years.

"We’ve been here a long time," he said of the eatery, which began as a family restaurant, and Chang bought out the others.

Damage is concentrated in the area of the bar and entryway, but the dining room and kitchen were spared, he said. Firefighters broke through the roof for ventilation, leaving holes.

A message left with the Farmingdale fire department wasn’t returned. A dispatcher who said he wasn't authorized to speak to the press confirmed there was a fire.

Chang said he learned of the fire about 10:30 a.m. when a busser who arrives early to clean the premises called to say there was smoke and fire.

Chang said the last fire was around 1995, when an unattended wok led to a kitchen fire. That reopening took several months, he said.

Newsday’s Feed me restaurant guide described the luncheon specials as "very reasonably priced" and that the overall menu "certainly covers all the bases."

The restaurant is insured, Chang said, and he thinks and hopes his losses will be covered. He was relieved the fire wasn’t worse.

"No fatalities," he said, "so thank God for that."

By Matthew Chayes

matthew.chayes@newsday.comchayesmatthew

Matthew Chayes, a Newsday reporter since 2007, covers New York City.