Then came another surprise for everyone. We had the entire building stripped down to bare framework, and foundation. Then Katrina occured! 2 months later we started to build it back together. At this point we had been closed for a year, while making the bank note every month with no income. Still I stuck with it. 9 months later we were able to open in a brand new building. Reflecting back on these difficult times I am proud to have gotten through it. More difficult times were still in the future. Anyone that knows the restaurant business is aware that it is a very tough business to start anyway and I was already totally overwhelmed by the time we did open. The next set of problems came immediately. The labor force was almost non existent. Waitstaff was almost impossible to find, let alone keep. Everyone was transient at that time. I have gone through 3 chefs and 4 managers in the 26 months that we have been open. All 4 managers were caught stealing. No less than 60 waitstaff members have come and gone. Training somebody for a position was nearly impossible. Tough times but I still believed in the restaurant. After all that I had been through I knew I would not quit. I thought that things would start to get better but I was dead wrong. On October 19th, 2007 I was nearly akilled at 4 oclock in the afternoon. I was walking my dog on Annuciation street when I was assulted from behind with a baseball bat or perhaps a pipe. I was not robbed, but left in the middle of the street having seizures. I woke up 5 hours later with 3 staples in my head and a permanently seperated shoulder. I have always been proud of my Irish Channel neighborhood and took it upon myself to board up and paint an abandoned crackdealer house at 3327 Annunciation. I have a rental property in that block and all the neighbors were complaining about the problem. The police did nothing, so I did. 8 days later I was nailed from behind and left for dead1, I later learned how close to death I was...
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