Fire guts two Israeli-owned Florida eateries

A fire destroyed two Israeli-owned kosher restaurants in a South Florida shopping plaza, including one that was torched a year ago by arsonists.

The early Sunday morning fires that hit the Achla Pita Grill and Bon Ami Cafe at the Emerald Center in West Hollywood are being investigated as suspicious, the Florida Sun-Sentinel reported. The plaza is in a heavily Orthodox Jewish neighborhood.

Hollywood Fire Rescue Division Chief Joel Medina said the state fire marshal would investigate the blaze, telling the Sun-Sentinel, “We have some concerns.”

A year ago, the Achla Pita Grill, which is adjacent to the Bon Ami Cafe, was torched by two masked arsonists who were seen on a surveillance camera dousing the kitchen with flammable liquid before setting it alight.

Both restaurants are owned by Ilan Timianski, an Israeli.

It was the third suspicious fire in a Jewish-owned store in the Emerald Center in the past two years. Nine months earlier, the Holyland Judaica store burned down after the back door was kicked and security cameras showed people running away from the back of the store.