An iconic Crows Nest restaurant has been left badly damaged after a fire ripped through the building on Saturday.
Smoke could be seen billowing over Sydney Harbour after the blaze broke out on the second floor of Stuyvesant's House on Alexander Street about 11am.
The German restaurant opened in Crows Nest 42 years ago and is renowned for its extensive wine list, that at one point contained 900 wines.
A real estate agency next door was also damaged, 2UE reported.
Fire and Rescue NSW said the building was well alight when crews arrived.
Crows Nest
pic.twitter.com/nQsujxLu84 — Mark Humphries (@humphriesmark)
March 21, 2015
"It was a very hard fire to fight, there was a real concern it was going to spread to the building next door," said Fire and Rescue NSW Inspector Ron James.
"We have been told it [the restaurant] has a very, very extensive wine cellar which hasn't been damaged and now we are trying to establish the cause of the fire."
"It started on the second level and there's extensive damage on the top level of the building, internally and the roof has collapsed."
Inspector James said crews had detected an "amount of asbestos internal to the building" but it had remained contained, adding: "there's no danger."
It is understood the owner of the restaurant is travelling overseas.
Alexander Street is closed at Falcon Street and NSW Police confirmed an exclusion zone has been established around the affected property.
Oh man. Poor Stuyvesant's House!
#sydney
#fire
#CrowsNest
pic.twitter.com/fwNJHai5XT — TheFoolishObsession (@foolishobsesh)
March 21, 2015
UPDATE: On-the-ground shots of Crows Nest fire. Cause of the fire is not yet known. #9News pic.twitter.com/PoWN2I9QU5 — Nine News Sydney (@9NewsSyd) March 21, 2015
