On Jan. 1, 980 restaurants were cooking and serving in the metro New Orleans area. That was already up 171 restaurants from the restaurant population before Hurricane Katrina. As of mid-December, the figure stood at 1,045. The 1,000th restaurant, Madrid, opened in April, marking the first time New Orleans had so many eateries.
That is a remarkable statistic. The restaurant population dropped significantly during 2009 everywhere else in America. If we were still filling in holes left by Katrina, that would be one thing. But that deficiency has long since been filled, and we’re still growing.
More large, upscale restaurants opened this year than in the past several. Most growth in 2006-08 was in neighborhood cafés. Those continue to proliferate, but the interest in opening big-deal dining venues has resumed.
The biggest white-tablecloth splash was the reopening of the Roosevelt Hotel. Three major new eateries came with it: the restored Sazerac and Blue Room and the new Domenica.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment