Po Boy Views
By
Phil LaMancusa
I Restauranti Morti
Or
Dead Cafés
March
11th 2020 the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 the disease
caused by the SARS-CoV-2, a pandemic. March 15, 2020 states begin to implement
shutdowns in order to prevent the spread. The shutdowns included schools,
commerce, the service industry, trade and other retail businesses considered
‘inessential’; about two years later, one million Americans were dead and so
was food and beverage (‘from farm to tombstone’, as they say). In the country
in general and in New Orleans specifically, the thin line between effort and
reward was quickly erased.
Immediately
if not sooner, the government began a program called the Pandemic Unemployment
Assistance, The American Rescue Plan Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic
Security Act which put money into the pockets of workers affected by not having
any work to go to. 43 agencies took part in giving nearly $4,000,000,000,000.00
to keep folks in food, clothing and shelter. The Paycheck Protection Program
gave away no cost loans to “essential” businesses that needed to remain open so
that folks could spend that gravy from the government train; unfortunately with
the pandemic worldwide the supply chain came off the rails and “essential”
goods and services came to a standstill along with wholesale household, food,
electronic and repair supplies. Rent, mortgage, insurance and utility bills DID
keep coming and restaurants in New Orleans fell like circus clowns in a mud
pool rope pulling contest.
Just
when light appeared at the end of a long dark tunnel along came hurricane Ida
and every eatery ate dirt; multiple closings (and re-openings) during erratic/sporadic
COVID lockdown periods took a financial toll everywhere. Some restaurants never
got back to their knees, let alone feet; as one owner put it “I’ve reopened,
shut down, reopened and shut down again and lost entire inventories and staff
four times and (sigh) I just can’t do it anymore; I’m throwing in the towel.”
Some
managed to hang on for six or eight months; however, many eateries are not many
payrolls away from bankruptcy. Many an entrepreneur will tell you that the best
way to go broke is to open a restaurant; the mortality rate is one of the
highest of endeavors. For large and (especially) small eateries the prognosis
was obvious: if the supply chain, labor shortages, pandemic restrictions,
electrical outages and spotty trash pickups didn’t get you, the hurricane (Ida)
will take the grim and ironic humor (the usual attitude of a New Orleanian if
there ever was one) out of desperate and hopeless situations. We watched some
of our favorite restaurant’s tail lights gleam and there wasn’t a dry eye in
the house; some just walked and others ran away. One owner said it was like
watching your childhood dreams die. Yes, it was that bad.
People
that did not experience Katrina do not get visceral feelings when that subject
comes up; likewise Newer Orleanians will not wax nostalgic when someone plays
that ‘Ain’t dere no more’ game: Rosedale,
Cake Café, Meauxbar, Emeril’s Delmonico, Upperline, Arrow Café or Saint
Charles Tavern’.
Some stalwarts tried comebacks; L’il Dizzy’s
Café on Esplanade died and was reborn, as was Couvant; Kebab on Saint Claude
made a go with new ownership; Mimi’s in the Marigny is still MIA; the last Semolina
finally bit the dust; Nine Roses in the Quarter called it quits on the East
bank. Nacho Mama’s; Seed; Sammy’s; Polly’s; The Bordeaux; The Standard and you
know more than I do which isn’t where it was and ought to be. Kingfish is just
gaining ground after its hiatus; is Mahoney’s open yet? It’s a shame, sad and
downright unfair for this to happen to us. As they say: “It ain’t ought to be
like this; it’s like being erased.”
I’ve
been in New Orleans on and off over forty years and I can count on all the
fingers of the Saints Cheer Krewe how many businesses that served my soul,
spirit and appetite have shut down, closed, but still remain a topic of
conversation when likeminded friends gather over a glass and recount the food
that made us fall in love again and again (and again) with New Orleans.
The
good news is that eateries like Phoenixes rise from ashes, newly transformed
for the new days here and ahead; wide eyed innocents and business savvy
veterans will take that FOR RENT sign down add a coat of fresh paint and open a
new venture that will face all of the time worn challenges of their
predecessors; with the same faith and optimism: Bisutoro; Pomelo; Queen
Trini-Lis; Cru; Jamaican Jerk House: Leo’s Bakery; Zee’s Pizzeria; Margot’s all
vying for a place in your favor, attention and love. And what’s not to love?
The
sad news is that there will never be another K-Paul’s Restaurant and sadder
still is that any of our most welcome newbies will look at us as if we are some
kind of weird to be obsessed with recalling flavors and foods that have passed
into the otherworld of gestation and olfactory memory; someday, someone will
open a restaurant called Orpheus that will bring back those memorable dishes.
Do you remember Buster Holmes’ Red Beans; Kolb’s Sauerbraten; Morrison’s Deluxe
Cornbread Pecan Dressing; the stuffed pepper and potato salad that came with
the Chicken Platter at Chez Helene, the Bread Pudding with Whiskey Sauce at the
Bon Ton Café or what was the name of that little place in the French Quarter
that served a fried oyster and roast beef with gravy combo po-boy and called it
a Bear Sandwich or what was that joint on Broad Street that deep fried
(breaded) their dressed Po-Boy? You see what I started?
Three
things I’ve learned: cherish (and support) your favorite eateries for they also
may fade someday; try new places to add more favorites to your memories and The
Wu Tang Clan ain’t nuthin’ to @#$%&!* with!
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