ANAHEIM – The kids are going to help him get through this.
Two days after a fire ripped through his beloved Anaheim White House Restaurant, Bruno Serato said the children he helps feed at Boys & Girls Clubs and other nonprofits nearly every day gives him the strength to stay focused.
“I feel better, because I’m taking care of my priorities,” Serato said. “The first priority is the children. The second priority is my crew. … I have about 60 employees. I need to make sure they all find a job. I’m not worried about me. I’m last.”
His nonprofit Caterina’s Club and his off-site catering business will push on. And, eventually, so will the restaurant.
Serato was upbeat Monday afternoon at the Highway 39 Event Center in Anaheim, where 22 children ate pasta donated by Caterina’s Club, which provides up to 1,800 free meals a day to boys and girls across Orange County and Long Beach.
Some meals were cooked on-site and picked up by groups, some of them were prepared at other locations.
Highway 39, where business parties and corporate events are held on a parcel peppered with classic cars, was lending its large kitchen Monday to Chef Serato, who bought the six-year-old restaurant in 1987, so he could continue feeding needy children.
“He can stay here as long as he wants, or until he finds something permanent,” said Michael Keener, the director of operations at Highway 39. “He takes such good care of the kids. When the fire happened, I think he was worried more about the kids than the restaurant.”
Investigators, who walked through the ruins on Monday afternoon, continue to piece together how the fire started. Serato said the fire started in the dining room and tore through 80 percent of the 1909 colonial-style home-turned-restaurant, causing $1 million-plus in damage.
Serato’s publicist, Frank Groff, set up a GoFundMe account to help rebuild the restaurant. The account has raised more than $50,000 as of Monday afternoon. Serato said he’s still trying to figure out the insurance situation and that it could take a year to restore his restaurant.
He visited the remains Monday morning and choked up recollecting memories. One side of the restaurant was completely charred, while the other remained white. Windows were boarded up.
The Anaheim White House, an Italian steakhouse in the heart of Anaheim, held weddings, anniversaries and birthdays.
“Valentine’s Day is next week, and I’m going to miss hugging and kissing my friends, family and customers who would dine there every year,” he said.
On Monday, some kids had heard about the restaurant fire and hugged Serato.
“I’m sad that he lost his restaurant,” said John Franson, 13, of Buena Park. “I know he makes the food we eat there.”
Yarely Baez, 10, said she felt bad the “fire broke his restaurant. …
I know he’s here for us,” Baez said. “So we’ll be here for him.”
Contact the writer: 714-796-2443 or jpimentel@ocregister.com or follow on Twitter @OCDisney
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