New Orleans: On the Way To Recovery (2/3)

Another hindrance of New Orleans’ restaurants re-opening is the rising prices. “The seafood price has been gone at a high rate. They are pumping all of the New Orleans water into the lake, and consequently I think it will ruin the seafood in the lake. I got a lot of my crab from the lake, now people don’t want to eat them. The crab business certainly will miss out. When people come into my restaurant looking at my menu they all ask where my seafood is coming from. I tell them, some are from Texas.” But the fact is that New Orleans restaurateurs like to use the local shrimp, because Louisiana is famous for its shrimps and oysters. “We have so much shrimp every year from the Gulf of Mexico, and they stock all of it in a freezer. I don’t think the storm make the oysters too bad. But a lot of people lose all their shrimps. One of my friends is a shrimp supplier, and he said that he lost at least 100 thousand dollars because the freezers break down in New Orleans. The prize will go up on the seafood. At least in half a year, people won’t go to New Orleans. The seafood will cost more money.” While lack of seafood supply may force menu prices to rise, the spirit is still intact. “Will people go back to my restaurant? Yes. Of course! Every body loves Trey Yuen, and the great food we serve here.” “The fish is OK. I don’t get our fish from the lake. The lake is mainly shrimp. Shrimps and the crabs. We took fish from the Mississippi river. Mississippi river will push the dirty water out quickly. I think it only destroyed a lot of freezers. I hope they will be finished with all the freezers. The fish is OK. I don’t think it will be a problem.” While the stormy weather still loomed large, what shines is people’s willingness to help. “Right after the storm, I stayed in one of my restaurants in Dayland, because the restaurant had a long column in the middle and so is really strong. Every time, when I have a storm coming in, I will open the restaurant, letting Chinese people and New Orleans to come and stay in my restaurant. I know my restaurants will be safe, so I let Chinese people come in there.” With a tradition of “giving back to the community,” Frank Wong and his restaurant was prompt to offer not only shelter, but also food and water. Right after the storm, Frank Wong realized nobody was cooking because the whole city had no electricity. So he had a whole guest line. He was cooking food right away to prepare box food serving all from emergency workers, firefighters to policemen. After the storm, he served food for three days until Wednesday night. From the day he had electricity, he started serve free lunch. He is still serving food and paid all the food and drink for the police. “When I ran out of food, Wal-Mart brings me some chicken, shrimp. Wal-Mart is closed, because in New Orleans, people broke in Wal-Mart and stole everything. I go talk to the manager, to give me some onions and pepper to serve food. So they bring the cart food the second day. Because I have so many people, I just cut off some chicken, and filled them in the bao. And Put some shrimp in there. Put garlic, pepper, and onion. They need tomato sauce, but I don’t have any tomato sauce because I’m a Chinese restaurant. I got two wide cookers. I cooked rice, made sauce. I’m serving a lot of people. A policeman was so happy he said that “I’m so happy you serve me food. All last night I only had a burger.” When I complimented him for his compassion and generosity, he answered that it’s his unshrinkable responsibility, “We’ve been in this area for so long. We’ve always been trying to help everybody. You got help from everybody.”