KENNER - The owner of Gendusa’s Italian Market, a popular Rivertown restaurant, was headed into work on Tuesday morning when he saw smoke coming from the building.

According to WWL-TV, fire broke out in the restaurant's kitchen around 5:30 a.m. The restaurant owner, Troy Gendusa said he's still in a state of shock.

"I still can't get my head around everything right now," Gendusa said. "I do know I want to come back and get back to work, that's for sure."

Gendusa said he opened the restaurant more than five years ago. He explained that he was blessed to be able to keep his 20 employees working throughout the coronavirus pandemic.

"This is my life, this is my passion, that's why I'm doing it. I gotta see what happens now," he said.

Residents tell me Gendusa’s is popular in the community. The mayor tells me the building was built in the early 1900’s. @WWLTV pic.twitter.com/khbRxVZijJ

— Meghan Kee (@MeghanKeeWWL) June 16, 2020

Thanks to the quick action of first responders, no injuries were reported during the blaze, and firefighters were able to extinguish the flames after at least an hour-long battle. 

But the incident left Gendusa's with extensive damage. 

Kenner Fire Chief Terrance Morris said, "Everything below the roof was either touched by the fire or touched by water that we used to extinguish the fire."

Morris said the Kenner Fire Department is now working with the State Fire Marshal to investigate the cause and origin of the blaze.