A much-loved restaurant in Glossop has closed after a fire broke out on Wednesday evening. The blaze at Hyssop started with a tumble dryer and has destroyed most of the site on the High Street.
Emergency services were called to the scene not long after, leading to road closures and an evacuation of the area around the restaurant. Following the incident, Hyssop's owners took to social media to explain that the whole top floor went up in flames, but that fortunately no one was harmed or injured.
Hyssop was first started as a pop-up restaurant concept by chef Paul Sykes and his partner Jess Hine in 2018, before taking on a six-month residency at the Bull's Head and eventually opening a permeant spot on Glossop High Street in 2019. The restaurant was listed in the Michelin Guide Great Britain and Ireland in March, with inspectors praising its "super friendly team" and "well-judged dishes".
Read more: Hidden gem restaurant less than an hour from Manchester that’s landed a spot in the Michelin Guide
Footage of the scene, captured by High Peak TV, was posted online and showed flames from the back of the restaurant and plumes of smoke across the high street. An image shared on their sister site - The Two Hares Deli - shows how the fire ripped through the top floor dining room and gutted the interiors.
In an Instagram post, Paul and Jess said: "We can’t figure out a way to start this post as it’s not something we ever thought we’d have to write. Yesterday was quite easily the worst day of our lives.
"Our whole top floor of the restaurant went up in flames and we’ve lost the lot. Thankfully Paul and all of the staff managed to escape unharmed.
"No lives were lost and that is the most important thing. We are trying our best to contact all of our bookings and we are obviously trying to figure out the next stages.
"Please bare(sic) with us, we are still trying to process what’s happened and along with trying to keep our business afloat financially, it’s going to be a long road ahead. Thank you for all of your kind messages. We have to get through this. Lots of love."
In a bid to rebuild the business and cover their bills, Jess and Paul have launched a Crowdfunder campaign. The crowdfunder page reads: "As we wait to get the ball rolling on the rebuilding of our business completely from scratch, we have to come up with a way to keep the finances afloat to pay the bills and staff going forward in the coming months.
"Just as many other businesses operate in this current economic climate, Hyssop survives week by week, and any loss of earnings will be catastrophic to our future. We are trying to raise some funds to enable us to make part of our space functionable in order to trade in some way, shape or form, in order to keep things ticking.
"We are so grateful for everybody's kind words and offerings, we are completely overwhelmed. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts."
The campaign, which runs until September 29 has already reached 85 percent of its £5,000 target, with many from the local community and wider hospitality donating to help Hyssop's owners rebuild the restaurant. As well as the crowdfunder, Jess and Paul are asking people to follow them on social media and support their sister deli just up the road.
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