Restaurant to re-open no matter what

OLD SAYBROOK, Conn. (WTNH) -- The beauty and power of Mother Nature. No place knows her better than the Dock & Dine, the popular Old Saybrook restaurant, that has met with her destructive force more than once.

"What's surprising is how much weight was on top of this floor and it still popped it up and shattered the entire granite bar all over this place," Nikki Curioso of the Dock & Dine said.

Last week's storm surge broke right through the floor, flooding the restaurant, not to mention the entire parking lot. Today as workers continue the clean up, they brace for another hit.

Even though the floor is now open because of the last storm, folks here say they're not too worried about this storm because even if a little water gets in everything has already been removed and damaged.

"I mean if a little more water comes up here at this point, I mean we already had three feet of water. If six inches comes up here, it's not a big deal because we already have a lot more to do," Curioso said.

Most of the furniture, plates, and other equipment which survived Sandy are now raised above where any new flooding is expected. So while this storm may not pose the same threat as last week's, it does serve as the same reminder of how vulnerable this waterfront restaurant is. After Irene it was closed for almost a year.

"We are absolutely rebuilding, no matter what. If we have to knock down the building and build it fifteen feet higher or if we rebuild it the way it is, it's going to happen. There is no way that the restaurant is not going to reopen, guaranteed," Curioso said.

That is what many customers and workers want to hear. The forces of Mother Nature are both beautiful and powerful.