COBB >> The little diner and brewpub in Cobb did not broadcast their reopening after the Valley Fire. They really didn’t need to.
On Tuesday last week, Jessie Cahill placed meat and salmon on the smoker. In a few moments, regulars began peeking in the window, lured by the rich aromas.
Mutt & Jess, a popular deli, bakery and brewery located next to the post office in Cobb, unlocked their doors again on Wednesday. The owners mentioned their plan to a couple of friends, otherwise they hoped for a low key return.
By Friday the place was slammed.
“It’s great to see people,” Cahill said. “We’ve missed a lot of our friends.”
Open for less than a year before the Valley Fire tore through Cobb, Mutt & Jess attracted a loyal following. Jessie Cahill’s adventurous brews and Merrilee Cahill’s deft touch with baked goods, the commitment to local ingredients and dishes prepared from scratch marked the little place as one of the county’s best.
Yet no one was certain if Mutt & Jess would reopen after the fire, particularly the owners.
The Cahill’s lost their home and most of their belongings on Sept. 12. They were serving customers when the blaze sparked. On that Saturday afternoon they first allowed staff to head home, one after another. Then news came that flames were bearing down on their neighborhood.
Jessie Cahill rushed home to check, saw other buildings on fire, but returned to the restaurant believing their plot was safe. A few minutes later, someone fleeing the inferno stopped by and said “I’m sorry about your house.”
With no home and only briefly secured ties to Lake County, no insurance on a structure they were improving, batches of beer lost and over $2,000 in perishable goods spoiled, the couple debated the matter.
“I was really apprehensive,” Merrilee Cahill said. “We talked about whether we wanted to come back. I’m glad we did.”
Cobb residents offered appeals. An elbow room crowd turned up to a fundraiser for the couple hosted by the Village Pub and its owner, Barbara Flynn. Questions flew on social media.
“One day we said ‘we’ll do it,’” Jessie Cahill reported. “We decided we weren’t walking away from this community.”
Their employees also tipped the balance. Although they lost one, who decided to move out of state after losing her home to the Valley Fire, the others stuck around.
“You’re really responsible to people,” he continued.
Sitting inside on Friday afternoon, it was possible to imagine nothing had happened to Cobb — that summer succumbed to fall without incident.
The pecan bars embrace you, the conversation pulls you in, the setting provides comfort. But returning to the grind after so much time away was not without problems, big and small.
As Merrilee Cahill prepared bread she always joked she could bake in her sleep, Jessie gave her a quizzical nudge. The mix, he implied required another egg.
“It’s funny how much you forget in a month and a half,” she said with a laugh.
The menu remains intact, although the standout meat pies are on hold for a few more days and they’ve cancelled burger nights for the near future. Since the fire, the couple determined to spend more time with their young children. They decided to close early for the time being, heading home at 3 p.m.
Jessie Cahill is ready to install new equipment that will more than double his beer making capacity. But it will be at least six weeks until the place offers a full menu of microbrews. In the meantime Cahill stocks kegs of small batch favorites from elsewhere.
Signs of recovery are everywhere. But it’s not that simple.
“The worst thing is the five times a day you remember something that’s gone,” Jessie Cahill said, mentioning hobby items, a car, tools and his wife’s art.
Still, it all seems very normal. Merrilee Cahill refers to the restaurant as “an island,” meaning that no damage is visible from any window. When customers complain about repair crews along Highways 175 or 29 forcing them to sit, she reminds them they are privileged to wait in traffic.
The alternative, she implies, would be worse.
“Everyone needed the normalcy and being here, for us, was just as important,” Jessie Cahill said. “It has been therapeutic.”
As regulars return, one begins to sense Cobb’s rejuvenation.
“This is such a beautiful community,” Merrilee Cahill concluded.
