Katrina Relief: Restaurants to the Rescue?

By JULIETTE ROSSANT The first message landed from across the country in superchefblog's Inbox about 3:00 a.m. EDT this morning. It announced that this weekend Chef Rasshad Brown will donate 100% of all sales of New Orleans-inspired sandwiches, side dishes, and entrees at his Big City BBQ restaurants in Tempe and Mesa, Arizona, to the relief of Hurricane Katrina victims. The charity machine of the foodservice industry is already in motion. Katrina relief has begun. Rasshad is lucky, in that he already had a charitable function this weekend. In fact, this is the second year he and his partners have taken part in the Muscular Dystrophy Association's annual Jerry Lewis Telethon. Earlier this week, the telethon announced that $1 million of the funds raised this weekend would go to New Orleans hurricane victims. In most cases, however, Katrina could not have hit at a worse time -- just before Labor Day 2005. In that respect, the disaster most resembles the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in August 1990: when the Iraqis arrived, most of Kuwait's government officials were vacationing outside of their blistering hot desert country. (I know: I've been there in the Summer time.) Likewise, none of the major food associations such as the IACP or Women Chefs and Restaurateurs or the James Beard Foundation, nor the culinary schools, have much staff or board members on hand to quickly organize initial relief efforts: their websites mention events earlier this summer or upcoming this Fall but not Katrina. Various Television Media are on the move, however, and the bar has already been set sky-high by NBC's Concert for Hurricane Relief" and its line-up of Louisiana-born stars: Harry Connick Jr., Wynton Marsalis, Aaron Neville, and Tim McGraw, airing tonight, 8:00-9:00 p.m. EDT, with no commercial interruptions. These headline names alone represent not only the region affected but a gigantic cross-section of Americana and should draw huge audiences (and ratings) around the country. (Hats off and a salute to you, Jerry Zucker.) The Food Network is also on the move, as one would imagine. They have an American Red Cross Relief Fund hyperlink on their front page and are currently in discussions with their parent company about a network-wide event (i.e., including HGTV and other sisters). This should come as no surprise, as the channel's star Emeril Lagasse is not only based in New Orleans but is an offical representative of the City of New Orleans tourism board. Let's not forget how many chefs either hail from or proudly claim to have done time down in "The Big Easy," including godfather Paul Prudhomme, godmother Leah Chase, Susan Spicer, and on and on. Chef Paul kindly sent out an email yesterday saying that no one on staff seems to have been hurt by the hurricane and that his facilities are in tact, situated as they are outside the city. And let's not forget that New York's darlings Allison Vines Rushing and husband Slade Rushing just left their New York restaurant to open up in Abita Springs, Louisiana, this summer (see previous article): Allison, Slade, are you alright? Chefs of the Gulf Coast, will you please let us know how you are? Who is going to help the Gulf Coast's chefs affected by the hurricane? Superchefblog canvased the East Coast this morning among super chefs and top restaurateurs to find out what they are doing: few if any could be reached before noon today. Among restaurateurs, Steve Hanson's B. R. Guest Restaurants said that they are finalizing relief plans over the weekend. Washington's Roberto Donna is planning an event with a local chefs' club for mid-September. Among super chefs, Miamli-based Norman Van Aken is planning an event with pal Charlie Trotter in the near future. Hurricane-veteran Norman could only spare a bit of time this morning. Not only were his restaurants affected by Katrina's first landing in Florida last weekend (let's not forget that Katrina has affected pretty much the entire Gulf Coast -- see map), but today he is trying to go ahead with a house move (!). What else do you do when a hurricane passes by to upset your life but carry on? (Good luck, Norman!) One silver lining if you have not heard it already is the revival of an Arlo Guthrie song that may well dominate tonight's concert -- here is the opening stanza and refrain, to help you make it through today while remembering our fellow Americans: Riding on "The City of New Orleans," Illinois Central, Monday morning rail, 15 cars and 15 restless riders, Three conductors and 25 sacks of mail. All along the southbound odyssey The train pulls out at Kankakee, Rolls along past houses, farms and fields, Passin' trains that have no names, Freight yards full of old black men, And the graveyards of the rusted automobiles. Good morning, America, how are you? Don't you know me? I'm your native son. I'm the train they call "The City of New Orleans." I'll be gone 500 miles when the day is done. ("The City of New Orleans" by Steve Goodman ©1970, 1971 EMI U Catalogue, Inc and Turnpike Tom Music/ASCAP) Important Link: Hurricane Katrina Restaurant Blog Previous articles: Allison Vines-Rushing Heads South After the Hurricane, Norman Van Aken Breezes Gently In complete Tsunami Relief coverage Technorati Tags: superchefblog, super chef, chefs, food, restaurants, cooking, branding, cuisine, hurricane, Katrina, charity --> back to superchefblog