Duke’s, the emblematic seaside restaurant in Malibu, was one of the rare buildings along the section of the city of the Pacific Coast Highway which came from the January palisades fire.
His managers had almost finished cleaning the damage left by smoke and prepared to reopen when Thursday’s heavy rain sparked mud shifts on the hills burned nearby.
Las Flores Canyon Road turned into a mud river flowing through PCH and in the Duke car park.
Now, it will take months before the restaurant can reopen, said director Jimmy Chaves in Malibu Times, adding to the economic misfortunes of the 130 employees of the restaurant, six of whom have lost their homes in the fire.
The mud flow also closed the portion of PCH in front of the restaurant, although a track has since been opened to emergency and cleaning teams.
The restaurant, which is a favorite watering hole for tourists and residents for decades, has been appointed in honor of the Legend of Hawaiian surfing, Duke Kahanamoku.
Kathy Kohner Zuckerman, who inspired the 1959 “Gidget” film on carefree surfers who slip into an idyllic paradise in southern California, still works with Duke’s as “Aloha ambassador”, according to the restaurant website.
California Daily Newspapers
