On the night before the Fourth of July, little cards were placed in the center of each table. There were 16 in all and they announced the night’s special: a fig-encrusted rack of lamb. It was the start of the busiest holiday weekend on the Vineyard and the tiny dining room of Café Moxie was filled — every table, every chair.

A Fourth of July morning fire destroyed Café Moxie restaurant and severely damaged the Bunch of Grapes bookstore in Main Street Vineyard Haven.

The blaze, the biggest on the Island in years, is believed to have started in the basement of the café shortly after 9 a.m.

Owner Austin Racine was the only person in the café at the time. He said he was in the kitchen when he noticed smoke. He had earlier been in the basement, which is used for storage.

The wheels on his bike stopped abruptly on Centre street behind Café Moxie when the pantry chef saw the flames breaking through the roof of the restaurant around 9:40 a.m. today, the Fourth of July. “I guess I don’t have work today,” he said sadly, and rode off.

The napkins were folded and the tables set. The homemade bread was sliced and waiting in bread baskets and the waitstaff had been briefed — yes the cod is fresh, no we do not serve wine, and although all our desserts are wonderful, I would recommend the frozen key lime souffle with tropical fruit salsa and raspberry coulis, just delicious.

Not two weeks ago, as Katrina Yekel greeted customers at the door of Cafe Moxie, the restaurant she now owns with her boyfriend, executive chef Austin Racine, she simply glowed.