New Orleans eateries making comeback

NEW ORLEANS — The menus are limited. There aren't enough waiters. And those places not using paper plates are hiring dishwashers at $10 an hour or more.

But the restaurants of New Orleans are coming back.

Though the devastation wrought on Aug. 29 by Hurricane Katrina is still apparent, restaurants are popping up in the French Quarter and Central Business District — the areas that escaped the worst of the hurricane and attendant flooding — in defiance of those who predicted that months would pass before anything of the sort could happen.

Indeed, at Bacco and Red Fish Grill, two restaurants owned by the Ralph Brennan Group, the paper and plastic have been packed away. The restaurants started using their regular dishes and glassware Oct. 18.

"Hallelujah," says Ralph Brennan. "I hated those plastic dishes."

That's how progress is measured by New Orleans' restaurants. Baby steps.

"We're not taking it day by day; we're taking it shift by shift," says Charlee Williamson, the Brennan group's executive vice president. "The day the newspaper was delivered for the first time, that was a big deal. Our first UPS delivery, that was a big deal."

To be sure, some of the city's most famous restaurants are still shuttered. Commander's Palace, Brigtsen's, Emeril's, Bayona — all remain closed, and only Bayona's owner, Susan Spicer, is talking about reopening before 2006.

But, beginning Oct. 19, it was again possible to enjoy coffee and beignets at Cafe du Monde, the open-air cafe adjacent to Jackson Square that, despite its short menu, is one of the city's iconic eating spots.

Also open are nearby Cafe Beignet, Herbsaint, Cuvee, Restaurant August and the New Orleans Grill inside the Windsor Court hotel.

"I'm very, very encouraged," says Laurie Claverie of the New Orleans Tourism Marketing Corp., whose Web site, www.neworleansonline.com, maintains a list of restaurants, music venues, tours and other attractions that are open for business.

"The people that are coming back are pioneers, doing what they can," says Claverie, who compiles and updates her list largely by walking around town.

"But people are going and supporting them because they're open, and they don't care if they're eating off paper plates."

One thing that is certain: There is no shortage of customers.