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    • Chef Will Gilson on rebuilding The Herb Lyceum after the fire
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    Chef Will Gilson on rebuilding The Herb Lyceum after the fire

    Online Niel Posted on

    No one had died, but when I lost the restaurant that defined my childhood and launched my career, I entered the five stages of grief.

    On September 1st, High School of Medicinal Plants, our beloved restaurant and the 19th century cottage on the property where I grew up sat smoldering and wet from the fire it had taken. Groton Fire Department hours to go out. Heartbroken, all I could do was sit and write through tears in an attempt to remember a place that meant so much to so many.

    When dad called to tell me about the fire, I drove as fast as I could. Even though I was talking to the police, I couldn’t imagine that whatever happened couldn’t be fixed. Over the past three decades, the property had survived a divorce settlement, an attempted bank foreclosure, and countless chefs who had come and gone. Long neglected, it has only recently been reborn in the grand scheme of its life, becoming the setting for untold weddings, special events, memorials for our family members. It would certainly survive a small fire, I thought. But when I saw it with my own eyes, i knew Whatever I built, in that incarnation, was dead.

    The High School of Medicinal Plants before and after the fire.From Will Gilson

    Dad and I were both too emotional to comfort each other. He wanted someone to blame and I got angry when he pointed the finger at my kitchen team as the guardians of the space. (The State Police Fire Investigation Team has yet to find what caused the fire.)

    Dad might be the hardest working person I know, and he and I had built a lot of the place together. Now we were watching how it burns. We may not have hit every nail, but we took it from the professional ashes before and turned it into something we were proud of. Anger prevented us from seeing beyond our memories, from knowing that a building could be rebuilt. I was upset that he couldn’t see that – he was upset that I couldn’t see that the memories and legacy were now ashes. We were both angry, rightly and wrongly.

    We went into crisis when we should have mourned the loss. While firefighters tried to shut down an already burning gas line, our team scrambled to find a venue for a wedding we had scheduled for the day. Then I thought: How could we host weddings? How fast could the building be bulldozed? All I wanted to do was sit and be sad. I remembered my excitement when My wife and I got married there, but I tamped it down. There has to be a way to make sure our guests can still enjoy what’s left of our burned structure. I convinced myself that a quick comeback would help us move forward.

    Will Gilson has been cooking in the family restaurant The Herb Lyceum since he was 16 years old.From Will Gilson

    My memory goes back to elementary school when I played in trenches dug for the building’s plumbing and electricity. There, I met my best friend from childhood – his stepfather was the contractor I hired to complete the construction. I had my middle school, high school and college graduations there. I played beer pong on the living room tables at an age I shouldn’t have. I cooked for my dad’s wedding and eventually his wife’s funeral at the exact same place. The depression I feel over this loss is tied to my best and worst memories.

    I told father we will rebuild. “Sure you will,” he said, “but it will never be the same.” He is right. In my field, almost every business closed and redeveloped was once someone’s dream. Herb High School was part of ours, and 30 years is a hell of a run.

    My children are still too young to understand what their father and grandfather are going through. But I owe it to them to look for ways that this can be rebuilt, reimagined and reborn – out of the same love, hard work and dedication that got us this far. As we build new memories, this is just one chapter in our family legacy.

    Chef Will Gilson lives in Acton. Send comments to [email protected]. Gilson and his team hosted 15 previously scheduled weddings on the grounds from the fire, with the help of the community. The burned structure remains as insurance companies have yet to find what caused the fire. Is there a GoFundMe reconstruction campaign.

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