Hurricane Sandy Changed How Restaurateurs Operate

The New York Times checks in with some of the city's restaurateurs whose businesses were affected by Hurricane Sandy and asks how they will prepare for future disasters. Many say they will completely change the way they operate. Everything is being put into question — from keeping refrigerators in the basement, to the way that management contacts employees.

After working from a health club bathroom all last week, Danny Meyer says he is now trying to establish disaster-proof communication procedures, "because in the future you can't have me running the company from the bathroom of a gym on one cellphone, relying on a cell tower."

Some restaurateurs say that they will be more prepared by buying generators and adding more efficient ways to drain and pump water. Others say they will have plans in place to get employees to work if public transportation is down. And some, like Jeffrey Bank, the chief executive of the Alicart Restaurant Group (Carmine's), think that many restaurants will just go out of business after this. "It'll be like a Chinese water torture," he says, "a slow drip."

But Drew Nieporent, who estimates that he lost about $630,000 between Nobu, Corton, and Tribeca Grill, says that events like Hurricane Sandy are nothing new, and that New York City restaurants have always been hit by catastrophes. Nieporent notes: "[A]s they said in 'The Godfather Part II,' this is the business we've chosen.'"
· Sandy Offers Lessons to Restauranteurs [NYT]
· All Coverage of Hurricane Sandy [~ENY~]
[Photo: The Chefs at Tertullia Working by Headlight]