By Gabriela Resto-Montero
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
WEST VILLAGE — Joseph Leonard restaurant at 170 Waverly Place reopened Tuesday just two months after a basement fire forced the popular eatery to close its doors.
An upbeat Jim McDuffee, the restaurant's chef, said Tuesday that, to start, the dining room would only be open for dinner before adding brunch and lunch menus next week.
"Then it'll be all systems go," McDuffee said. "We're serving only the good stuff with lots of love."
McDuffee and Joseph Leonard owner Gabriel Stulman had to close the restaurant after an electrical fire broke out in the building's basement Oct. 18.
No one was hurt in the blaze and Stulman continued to conduct business out of his other restaurant, Joseph's Grocery, at 172 Waverly Place.
A hand-lettered board sign placed in front of the restaurant thanked neighbors for their support.
"We've always said we're in the business of breaking hearts," the sign read. "But it's you who done broke ours. We've missed the heck outta you."
