WNC Flood

[conchchowder]

There are many restaurants in the Western North Carolina area which may never recover from the torrential rains and subsequent floods which we experienced over the past week. The Melting Pot, simply told employees to, "Look for another job", others, without flood insurance, are doing their best to clean up and try to salvage their equipment, and business.

As Buncombe and Henderson counties are under a boil water advisory, restaurants which are able to prove (through inspection) that their toilet facilities are capable of flushing are permitted to remain open. Those without are forced to close. Our restaurant was fortunate...in a sadistic way...the health department permitted us to remain open only to have the local media hype up the restaurant closings, rather than announce those which were permitted to remain open and took extra effort to ensure the safety of the public and provide a service for those unable to cook at home or simply tired of putting up with all of the troubles caused by the flood and wanted to escape for an evening. We saw the slowest Friday night since we opened. I called the local news station to protest their handling of the situation and the producer informed me that Red Lobster had voiced a similar complaint.

There are restaurant employees out of work by the hundreds and since many rely on gratuities for income, they face an uncertain future and an uncomfortable present.

Many of us in the hospitality business, unfortunately, work paycheck to paycheck and a natural disaster makes an unsteady financial situation, well, disasterous. Federal aid has been approved following the declaration of 15 WNC counties as disaster areas. This aid will take time to flow into the hands of those who need it. In the mean time, friends, family, and public charity are the only options for those unable to save for a rainy (floody) day.

As I type this, I remind myself of another disaster. 9/11. I was in the pantry getting ready for lunch service when someone told me that a private plane had crashed into the WTC. I simply replied that a bomber crashed into the Empire State Building and it didn't suffer much damage...I then walked to the bar and immediately thought of the staff at Windows of the World...doing the same thing as I was doing...slicing and dicing and getting ready for lunch service. I remind myself of those in the service sector during disasters. I feel the pain of those who have worked at a restaurant for years to loose it to the elements or extreme event. I honor those lost and those who survive. Especially those who went on to places like Noche, and continue with those who were close to them.

Take this time to reflect on all of the good things in your life. Make the most of it and if you can, stop by that restaurant which is filled with debris and lend a hand in cleanup.

Edited September 11, 2004 by conchchowder (log)

[tanabutler]

I'd love to know, from reading your post, what "WNC" means. I know the Southeast, but regional abbreviations are beyond me.

Good post, and thanks. (I had a friend working at Windows on the World when the bombing in the garage took place. He lived, of course, but that was the last day he worked there. He knew worse things were coming.)

[Painting]

I'd love to know, from reading your post, what "WNC" means. I know the Southeast, but regional abbreviations are beyond me.

Western North Carolina

anyways, NPR had a thing about it, it's pretty bad.

[cookperrync]

Conch...

where do you work? which restaurants are closed? how is biltmore estate? was downtown asheville hit as hard as biltmore village? thanks for the update...

perry

[conchchowder]

Conch...

where do you work?  which restaurants are closed?  how is biltmore estate?  was downtown asheville hit as hard as biltmore village?  thanks for the update...

perry

←

Um, Perry?, Look at the signiture on my post man...then do a Homer...DOH!...lol

Biltmore Village

Melting Pot...permanantly closed

Depot in cleanup

Wendys in cleanup

McDonalds in cleanup

Krystal...no problems

Honeybaked Ham in cleanup

Biltmore Estate...no problems

Spirits on the River...uncertain

Rezzas...Smart puppy had flood insurance! Go Rezza! (You are the man!) He will rebuild and probably fix some things he may have not done right the first time. I think Rezza will end up the winner in this case

Trevi...Uncertain (One of their cooks called Julia Child, "An overpaid line cook", so I hope Karma kicks him in the derriere...well, it already has. The @#$%#@ hasn't been working for almost a week so I guess that is good enough for me)

Many restauarants were closed by the health department for operating in unsafe conditions. One of these was Carrabas. They were not sanitizing their dishes and were shut down by the health department. If they reopen without expressed permission, they could permanently lose their operating licence.

We remain open. This is the note we included in all of our menus.

Hello, and welcome to Café Soleil

On behalf of the owners, Stephane and Paula, and myself, we would like to thank you for your patronage during this difficult time for our area. The region hasn't seen flooding like this for 30 years but things are getting better.

I would like to reassure you that we have been constantly communicating with the Buncombe Coundy Health Department, Division of Environmental Health, as to the safety of our water supply and any suggestions for ensuring the safety of our customers and staff. Your health is of paramount concern to us.

We have taken the following steps to ensure your safety.

1) Pure drinking water will be served by request only and free of charge. Single serving bottled water will be available for purchase as well as Perrier by the bottle. ALL soft drinks are canned or bottled and our ice comes from South Carolina. We do not have an in-house ice machine at this time.

2) All water for hand-washing by restaurant personnel is previously boiled for 3-5 min with the addition of chlorine bleach to ensure safe water. Boiled water wil be used for kitchen utensil washing but pans are safe to be washed in the traditional method. The high temperatures of the stove prevent any contamination and the sauté pans will be set on high heat to sterilize them.

3) We will be using disposable dinner ware until the boil water advisory is lifted and we are assured that bacteriological and environmental contamination is no longer a concern.

4) All water used for cooking is commercially bottled drinking water certified pure.

5) We have added alcohol based anti-bacterial hand sanitizer to our public restrooms. PLEASE use the hand sanitizer after you wash your hands to ensure proper sanitation OR in lieu of using the water, use the sanitizer alone especially if you have any open cuts on your hands.

6) I take pride in being Certified by the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation in Food Service Safety. This is an ANSI/CFP Accredited Certification Program, and can assure you that even more important than preparing you a memorable meal filled with love and passion is ensuring your health through proper sanitary procedures.

If you have any questions concerning our handling of this manner, please contact any one of us so we may address your concerns.

Keith Wright

Executive Chef

Café Soleil

We had a great Saturday night and many people came in, exhausted from trying to deal with no water. They enjoyed forgetting about the problems for a night and just let go. It was strange putting $14 plates of food on Chinet and $70 bottles of wine in plastic cups but nobody complained...at all.

Many restaurants remain closed but many remain open and struggle.

Ivan is forecast to come early to mid next week. We don't know what will happen if the area floods again.

In the mean time. Wild mushroom gathering has been the best in YEARS and the wild blueberries are plumper than commercial ones!

[Gifted Gourmet]

Sorry to say things don't seem to look any too rosy for the coming week either .... here in Atlanta, we are expected to see more power outages again which means no cooking nor opening our refrigerators either ...

The National Weather service released the following statement .... possible impact on Western North Carolina:

Hurricane Ivan is still looking like it will impact the western Carolinas and northeast Georgia by Wednesday and/or Thursday.

[Varmint]

We're all rooting for you and the others in the western part of our fair state. We know how tough it's been for you, and we're really hoping Ivan isn't so terrible.

Oh, and welcome to eGullet!

[mighty quinn]

heard about the situation in asheville from my brother-sounds like it's a mess!! strangely enough, i was on a us airways flight to tampa on friday and read an article featuring asheville ('the paris of the south") and it mentioned a few of the places conchchowder had mentioned. seems as if the weather has wreaked havoc on the restaurant industry in the southeast this summer- three weeks ago the shockoe bottom section of richmond was under ten feet of water and flooded about 8 restaurants and the 17th st farmers market. wonder what the economic toll will be on just food from this summer's storms!

[chefdg]

Just got off the phone with Mark Rosenstein who is the chef/owner of The Market Place and they have no damage but have been closed since wednesday. He confirmed that Reza lost everything. I hope the entire area bounces back quickly from this b/c October is leaf season which bring millions of $ from tourist to the area. Egulletters might want to plan a vaca to the area to help support the clean-up, and enjoy the scenery.

[conchchowder]

Whew! We made it through the weekend with no power loss but Reza got hit again as well as others in the Biltomore Village area. Asheville Independent Restaurant Association will be having a benefit for Reza and Trevi soon.

We were open last night but very few customers. the tourists are scared away and the locals were cooking everything in sight due to power losses in the north end of town.

Anybody wishing to attend or help out affected restaurants should contact the Asheville Independent Restaurant Association.

Thanks for all of your positive thoughts during this difficult time.

[Gifted Gourmet]

Found this thread from last fall on the flooding of many Asheville restaurants and wanted to update some of the comments on Rezaz.

I was there for dinner in mid-February and found the place very chic and modern and there was no sign of any flooding ... I spoke to the owner after dinner and he told me the story. He did have insurance and it helped him to reopen bigger and better than before. The place was packed and my dinner was sublime!

The website: Rezaz

Should you ever find yourself visiting Asheville, NC, do make it a point to stop here for a meal. You'll never regret it!