Early restaurant news out of Texas is far from good

Hurricane Ike's damage to Texas' restaurant industry is starting to be assessed, but it remains unclear whether the storm caused or merely contributed to the demise of a dining landmark. Brennan’s, a longtime favorite of Houston, was “left in ashes” by a fire that erupted about the time the storm was making landfall, according to a report in the Houston Chronicle. The report noted that it was still undetermined as of Saturday afternoon if Ike caused the blaze. It appears certain, however, that the hurricane fanned the flames and kept firemen away.

It seems as if Mother Nature was extracting revenge on the landmark for earlier defying its wrath. After Hurricane Katrina destroyed much of New Orleans, many staffers of that city’s Commander’s Palace were taken in by Brennan’s. Both landmarks are run by the Brennan family, one of the nation’s foremost restaurant clan.

The Chronicle story noted that co-proprietor Alex Brennan-Martin couldn't speak when he learned of the fire because he was apparently too broken up.

As with Hurricane Gustav, last night’s storm dominated the airwaves. Yet mentions of southern Texas restaurants were rare, as opposed to the detailed reports about how New Orleans dining cathedrals were faring when Gustav hit. The contrast underscores how important eateries are to the Big Easy economy. Most of the economy-related TV and internet reports on Ike focused on the local oil trade.

But a reporter stationed in Galveston by a Houston ABC affiliate noted that a popular beachside restaurant “was literally gone.” I thought he said it was The Stockade, but I couldn’t find a listing for that. A scan of all the eating places listed in local tourist guides mentioned only who’s name sounded similar, the Spot, though I haven’t been able to confirm that through other means.

Meanwhile, another report noted that the Kemah Boardwalk, a tourist facility run by Landry’s Restaurants, couldn’t even be reached on foot or by car. Among the restaurants located on the waterside attraction is one of Landry’s newest concepts, Red Sushi Habachi Grill, a slight variation on the Red sushi restaurant in Las Vegas’ Golden Nugget casino.

Though the news on restaurants affected by the hurricane hasn’t been abundant—and blogs offered less information than they did during Gustav—the situation has to be deplorable. Power companies are saying that power won’t be restored in some areas for three weeks to a month. Many areas are advising residents to stay away if they can, and a lengthy list of towns and cities are imposing curfews to avert looting and lawlessness.

If you’re reading this and know what’s happening with the restaurant industry in southern Texas, please share the info.

The aftermath of Gustav

Clay Dover, president and chief marketing officer of the Louisiana-based Raising Cane's quick-service chain, sent us this note yesterday about the aftermath of Monday's storm:

Hurricane Gustav forced Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers to close 35 of its 58 company owned stores in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. (We have 73 total). As of Wednesday, September 03, 2008 we have been able to re-open 18 locations.

Baton Rouge has been a challenge due to massive power outages. Additionally some of our outlying restaurant locations were hard hit, including Houma, where Gustav made landfall. We plan on opening the restaurants located in New Orleans beginning Thursday a.m. with full crews.

We were able to reopen quickly because we were very proactive in our preparation both in preparation and recovery.

New Orleans restaurants batten down

The Big Easy's celebrated restaurant industry certainly hasn't had an easy time of it. Now, three years after the Big One, comes The Even Bigger One, a storm that's been described by New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin as "the storm of the century." This from a man who was on the ground during Katrina.

It comes as no surprise, then, that the city's restaurants are shutting down and encouraging their staffs to seek safety. An AP story said that Arnaud's, one of the landmark places, threw away some of its food and donated the rest to local fire departments. Why suffer that degree of spoilage, as so many places did in 2005. And the local newspaper, The Times-Picayune, has this to say about other establishments there.

The Scoop, by the way, was launched in the wake of Katrina as a service to the local industry there. Though it wouldn't take that name for awhile, the blog was intended to serve as a bulletin board of sorts, where New Orleans restaurateurs and restaurant employees could reconnect. Our hope was to let employers and employees know of each other's safety, and then to start addressing such nuts-and-bolts matters as getting paychecks or seeing about healthcare coverage. We also hoped to put employees in touch with other restaurants that might be able to add them to the payroll while their prior employer was getting on its feet.

This is a helluva way to celebrate the anniversary of NRN's first blog. Hopefully, this time it'll be filled with stories of how astutely the city contended with a natural disaster, and how quickly it rebounded.

We wish everyone down there the best of luck. Needless to say, if this space can be used in any way to help the members of New Orleans' restaurant industry, just let me know, either through a comment here, or by e-mailing me at promeo@nrn.com.