Cafe By The Ruins co-founder ‘stunned’ as fire hits famed Baguio restaurant

BAGUIO CITY - The Cafe by the Ruins—a Baguio institution and one of the country's best loved restaurants—is in ruins.

A corner of its thatched roof caught fire at around noon on Sunday and quickly spread. The prompt response by the nearby fire station could not prevent the fire from consuming nearly the entire roof and several bamboo art lamps by artist Perry Mamaril.

No one was hurt, but the cafe will be closed indefinitely while its owners take stock of the damage and decide whether to rebuild with a thatched roof again.

"I'm stunned. I feel like I lost my life's work," said Adelaida Lim, one of the founders of the 29-year-old establishment and the brains behind its Cordillera-inspired locavore menu. She sat forlornly in the parking lot as workers scurried about carrying out food stocks and equipment from the embers. Friends came to help dry out paintings and photographs by prominent Baguio artists such as Roberto Villanueva, Wig Tysmans, and Leonard Aguinaldo.

The restaurant's thatched roof, seen here in a photo taken in 2009, caught fire shortly before noon on Sunday, April 30, 2017. Photo: Karen Galarpe

Much of the interior is still intact, giving the owners hope that it will be bagnet-ready before it celebrates its 30th year in 2018. — BM, GMA News