Long after the floodwaters in New Orleans subside, the city's renowned
restaurant industry will have to contend with a drain of a different
kind.
The home of Bourbon Street and beignets faces a potential outflow of
both the kitchen-based talent and the behind-the-scenes labor that
combined to make New Orleans one of the world's great towns for dining
out.
And with so many natives vowing never to return, some observers say the
industry may struggle to reclaim past glories.
"The city will experience a large population loss, short-term for sure,"
said Tom Fitzmorris, who has chronicled the New Orleans dining scene for
about three decades, producing a food column for a local business weekly
and daily radio program.
"A lot of the critical [restaurant industry] people will have to leave
to get jobs. It's not because these people are un-loyal to the city.
It's just sheer economics."
New Orleans was clearly the largest "foodie town" hurt by Hurricane
Katrina, though the industry felt the wallop up and down the Gulf Coast.
Blow to industry
The nine metropolitan areas most directly affected by Katrina –
including communities in Louisiana, Mississippi, Florida and Alabama –
contained more than 11,480 restaurants, according to data from NPD
Group/NPD Foodworld, a research firm based in Port Washington, N.Y.
Of those, 6,089 are in areas that even the post office is unable to
serve. McDonald's Corp., the world's largest hamburger chain, has more
than 200 restaurants in the affected areas.
Steven C. Anderson, president and chief executive officer of the
National Restaurant Association, described the hurricane and its
aftermath as "truly catastrophic."
"Sadly, many of our brothers and sisters in the industry have been
deeply affected by the devastation of this storm," he said in a
statement.
To help storm victims, the association is coordinating a daylong dining
fundraiser scheduled for Oct. 5.
It is also working with state restaurant associations and others to help
those in the industry "get back to their lives and livelihoods," he said.
Deep challenges
The restaurant industry faces deeper challenges than other sectors –
such as retail, for example – because over the years, it has shifted
from selling food to marketing "the dining experience."
And that experience is heavily dependent on the talent in the kitchen,
the atmosphere in the dining room, and the silent muscle that keeps the
whole thing humming.
In the short haul, there is definitely a threat that "some people will
go elsewhere," said Tim Zagat, co-publisher of a popular line of dining
guides.
"If it's six months to a year [before the city reopens for business]
they can't afford to be out of work for that long."
The flip side, he said, is that "New Orleans has a lot of young blood.
The fact that you may lose some may open up room for others."
But Mr. Fitzmorris sees an even bigger "back-of-the-house" threat – an
inability to find servers, busboys and others at the lowest end of the
pay scale once the eateries are ready to reopen.
Battered image
New Orleans' poorest were among the hardest hit and are offering up some
of the loudest voices saying "never again."
Beyond that, when the city's economy does attempt to recover, it will
almost certainly be led by the clank of construction – an industry
offering many unskilled and semi-skilled workers better pay than
restaurants.
Following Hurricane Betsy in 1965, Mr. Fitzmorris said, "businesses that
employed unskilled people, they had a really hard time finding people to
work because they could make so much more money in the construction
industry. ... That in and of itself has the potential to make some
restaurants close. It will be very difficult to attract waiters and
busboys."
Also, with images of destruction and dead bodies, the city that invited
the world to party on now has a major image problem.
"It's a question of whether people feel good when they hear the name
'New Orleans' or whether the city has gotten to leave a bad taste in
people's mouths," said Zagat.
"The image of what this city looks like now is going to be very, very
hard to deal with."
Mr. Zagat and other industry observers see these as challenges – not a
death sentence.
The Big Easy "has a long history of coming back from problems," he said.
"It may be years," Mr. Zagat said. "In due course, New Orleans will come
back, but it's going to be tough.
E-mail
krobison@dallasnews.com
