Fire at Luca Italian restaurant in Stony Brook causes minimal damage, owner says

An Italian restaurant in Stony Brook will reopen soon, after an early morning fire Thursday, a co-owner said.

Officials were alerted at 3 a.m. to a fire at Luca, at 93 Main St. 

Stony Brook and several area departments responded to the scene.

David Tunney, co-owner of Luca, said firefighters made a hole in the roof to extinguish the fire in the ceiling. Aside from water damage to the kitchen, the restaurant suffered minimal structural damage and should be up and running on Jan. 31.

"Thank God is was only this little fire," Tunney said. "We could be in California. This was a little roof fire, thank God the Stony Brook Fire Department put it out really quickly. It's not a big deal."

The cause of the fire "has been determined to be accidental in nature," Brookhaven Town Chief Fire Marshal Chris Merhman said in an emailed statement on Thursday afternoon.

"l believe," the fire was caused by "the failure of a heating unit with ceiling space above the kitchen," Merhman's statement continued. "At this time the building has been deemed to be unsafe for occupancy due to damage to the electrical systems and minor structural damage."

Electricians will be at the restaurant on Friday to assess the damage and "figure out what's wrong," Tunney said.

The restaurant is set to cater its Valentine’s Day service, which is fully booked.

"We’re four guys who built this great restaurant," he added. "We’ll be back serving the community."

Luca is listed as one of Newsday's best Italian restaurants of 2025.

No injuries were reported, police said.

The restaurant opened in the Stony Brook Village Center in 2022, replacing a beloved eatery, Pentimento.

With Nicholas Grasso