This week on Food For Thought, my report on how restaurants in New Orleans have bounced back after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina of almost one year ago. I was there during the 3rd Annual Tales of the Cocktail. To listen to this program in streaming RealAudio, click here.
This city has some fantastic food and cocktail traditions, and traditions die hard. That’s why I visited the covered courtyard of Café Du Monde, a coffee shop that’s been in the French Quarter since 1862. Pretty much all they serve here is coffee and beignets. 
A beignet is said to be an Acadian creation, basically a deep-fried square of dough which is then covered with about a half-inch of icing sugar. That’s it. And yet the place is packed with people. Café du Monde was back in business just six weeks after Katrina hit.
Other restaurants had more of an uphill battle. Café Giovanni is owned by chef Duke LoCicero. He, his wife Kelly, and his kids were evacuated from the city when Katrina hit. They were staying with relatives in Tennessee, where Duke was able to witness his restaurant being looted while watching CNN.
Because restaurant skills are so transferable, many cooks, waiters and dishwashers who left New Orleans when Katrina hit haven’t come back, they’re working somewhere else in the country. Some places haven’t been able to open for lunch as well as dinner service because they just don’t have enough staff. Other places are still repairing damage caused by the storm, or post-storm looting.
I had a lot of casual conversations with people in the city’s hospitality industry during my visit. All of them had tales of what had happened to their homes, their families, and their jobs. One of the managers at my hotel told me her house was flooded to the ceiling of the first floor, while her second floor was immaculate. As time went on, she said the more you get, the more you want. When the electricity came back on, then you wanted your telephone. Cable TV was a real luxury, but not so much as getting your garbage picked up again. Still, she is careful to remind herself that some people don’t even have electricity yet. The existing grid is fragile, the power went off in my hotel for short periods nearly every day I was there.
But when I hit Bourbon Street one night, all the energy New Orleans is known for was still there. Street musicians giving it their all, music blaring from all the bars and nightclubs, tourists walking with their ‘go cups’ full of booze up and down the street, everyone having a great time. You can definitely be well-fed, well-watered, and well-entertained in the historic French Quarter, but you don’t have to go too far before the façade starts to crumble. The city has problems that won’t be solved by just a fresh coat of paint and a new menu, but I hope to return again, just to drink in the spirit of the stubborn survivors.
To try some of the recipes I’ve recreated from my visit to New Orleans, click here, or here.
