In New Orleans, Knives, Forks and Hammers

Every morning Leah Chase hobbles out of her FEMA trailer and crosses the street to check on the tortuous effort to rebuild her historic restaurant, Dooky Chase.

Mrs. Chase, 83, is the nation’s most revered Creole chef. Since Hurricane Katrina soaked her restaurant with five feet of water, people with the best intentions have held gumbo fund-raisers for her. Volunteers from Viking, the stove company, sanitized every pot and spoon. Insurance checks, such as they were, have been cashed.

Mrs. Chase is picking out fabric for her chairs and plotting the menu, but the truth is, she has months to go. Things like removing mold and rewiring a kitchen take a long time in this new New Orleans.

Even if Mrs. Chase gets the doors open, there is no telling where she will find waiters, cooks or customers. The housing project across the street is sealed with steel plates, and most of the houses in her neighborhood are empty, still bearing spray paint from the search for bodies.

“I know people say, ‘My God, a year later and you’re not any further than this?’ ” Mrs. Chase said. “They just don’t understand. We’re all taking a whipping down here.”

from the NY Times