I was in Nevada, dining out with my son Evan when I got the call. Café Miranda was on fire.

Receiving our dinner the night we learned of the fire back home, we pondered the fate of the café with such questions as 'Had 15 years been a good enough run?' Evan and I looked at each other and conceived a comeback strategy.

We realized how much food and Miranda meant to us, a glimmer of our place in the community. It all came
together: Wacky, fun, the phoenix rising from the ashes? No, flamingoes! Rising out of the fire, we'd do benefit blunches.

It was what happened after we opened again that was the real mind-bender.

Fire, damage, reconstruction, buying new equipment, keeping "aflame" the bruised spirit of the café were all a huge challenge, completed in a
record time of 44 days. Grand reopening week was bookended by two Benefit Blunches for the Rockland Fire & Police Departments, which in turn donated profits to our local Kiwanis Club, the benefit being earmarked for kids in and around Knox county.

This is where the rebuilding really began. These events were huge successes for the organizations both in terms of exposure and actual funds raised. Café Miranda got a huge push at reopening, due to massive goodwill and an enhanced reputation.

Seeing how these two events worked, we further started a series of "For the Kids" benefit blunches. These occurred once a month, six events from our reopening through May. We targeted kid-related non-profits to increase public awareness of their organizations, their missions, and Café Miranda. A Win-Win situation.

As I was loading a trailer at our Headacre Farm with the firewood for Miranda's wood-burning oven, it occurred to me that fire had been my workday companion for 15+ years. Daily, the crew and I bake our focaccia on the bricks, next to the fire in the oven, using it to cook the evening's orders and for the enjoyment of our patrons.

These reflections flamed my desire to show a wider audience how these positives balanced out the negatives. In fact, all aspects of our spirit have felt a positive impact of the net benefit of "The Fire."

Fire good. Fire bad.

Kerry Altiero is the chef and co-owner of Café Miranda