DETROIT (WXYZ) — A local resident known for his hospitality at a Detroit restaurant has died in a house fire earlier this month.
Norris Shell, 55, was a server at Central Kitchen and Bar.
For the past eight years, Angie Perez has worked side-by-side with Mr. Schell, she was his bartender.
They both work the same days every week, and anyone who frequents the central kitchen will know that it's rare for one of them to be absent.
Restaurant workers say the central kitchen won't be the same as before.
“You won't miss Norris,” says Central Kitchen co-owner Dennis Archer Jr. “You can hear his laughter from across the restaurant, so even though this space is big, it will be lonely without him there.”
“We lost a member of our family.”
Shell lost his life in a house fire in the city's North End neighborhood.
Before the tragic incident, Shell was one of her favorite places to hang out and do what she loves most – dancing.
“He loved house music,” Perez says, “and he loved the spotlight. The spotlight was his… third home. He loved to dance.”
Ms Archer said Mr Shell's death had hit hard not only the staff at Central but also local residents who knew and loved him well before he became a regular at the city's well-known restaurants.
Mr Archer added that Mr Norris was the epitome of hospitality.
“Norris was exceptionally in tune with our guests,” Archer said. “He could understand them the moment they sat down, which is a really great trait, and the guests got that from him. That's why we had such a strong connection with Norris.”
Alejandro Fuentes Noguez runs the central kitchen and said he learned everything he knows about the hospitality industry from Shell.
“In my eyes, he was what a server should be, or what a server should be,” Fuentes-Noguez said, “and he had a lot of great qualities, so I think a lot of us have really embraced his teachings over the years.”
Archer said he hopes those teachings will live on and that the community will continue to show kindness to Shell's family.
“I would ask that friends of the family, people who know the family or don't know them, please send letters,” he said, “and show kindness and hospitality.”
Central Kitchen will host a celebration of Shel's life on Monday from 7 to 10 p.m.
