NEW ORLEANS Many restaurants here could be up and running again in a matter of days when residents return after evacuating for Hurricane Gustav, but some chefs who stayed behind are already revving up their kitchens.
The John Besh Restaurant Group, for example, said in an e-mail that it would resume dinner service Tuesday night at Lüke, its Alsatian brasserie in New Orleans' business district. "The lights are on, the stove is hot, and Lüke is ready to serve you for dinner tonight," the e-mail said.
Lüke will offer a limited menu that includes some of its signature dishes, such as roasted beets with Clemson blue cheese and spiced pistachios and grilled housemade boudin noir sausage with a saute of potatoes, apples and onions. Chefs John Besh, Alon Shaya and Mike Gulotta will be in the kitchen, according to the e-mail. General manager Blake LeMaire will take over serving duties, and co-owner Octavio Mantilla will tend bar.
Most restaurants in New Orleans closed as owners escaped town, and many cleaned out their walk-in coolers before leaving. After Hurricane Katrina struck in 2005, many refrigeration units had to be replaced after rotting food sat in the units for more than a month.
Officials estimated that about 90 percent of New Orleans residents fled to safer locations in advance of Hurricane Gustav. The storm, which initially was feared to be more destructive than Hurricane Katrina, weakened before it made landfall on Monday and passed through without delivering the massive destruction that devastated the city three years ago.
Mayor Ray Nagin told media outlets on Tuesday that an end to New Orleans' mandatory evacuation was "only days away, not weeks."
Meanwhile, crews were working to repair damage to the city's sewage system and restore power to more than 80,000 homes and businesses, according to the Associated Press.
Nagin told reporters that businesses could begin assessing the damage to their locations on Wednesday and that residents could likely return to the city on Thursday.
Lüke is the first eatery in the John Besh Restaurant Group to reopen. The company's other New Orleans-area restaurants include Restaurant August, La Provence and Besh Steak.