The LRA will remain closed today, October 29, 2020, as widespread power outages are being addressed by power crews throughout the Southeast Louisiana region. As soon as power has been restored, we plan to resume normal operations. 

October 28, 2020
As of Wednesday a.m., Hurricane Zeta has been upgraded to a Category 2 Hurricane expected to make landfall this afternoon. The LRA will close today so that our staff may be safe at home as the storm comes through. It is projected to move through Southeast Louisiana beginning early afternoon and exit by this evening. Please stay tuned to your local weather for up to the minute news regarding Hurricane Zeta. 

An update to the Restaurant Reopening Guidance has just been released – now called the COVID-19 Safe Operating Guidance.
 
The updated document continues to offer direction and provide a framework of best practices for restaurants operating under new COVID-19 rules and regulations. As with the previous two versions, It is meant to be used in conjunction with Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Food Code requirements, and all guidance required by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), FDA, and state and local health officials for operations during the pandemic.
 
The Guidance continues to focus on food safety, cleaning and sanitizing, employee health monitoring and personal hygiene, and social distancing. Each section includes a list of actionable items an operation should consider as it evaluates its safety procedures. 
 
Among the updates are:

• A new section on preparing workplaces for COVID-19 which addresses layouts and ventilation.
• Additional guidance on when and where face coverings should be worn in the restaurant.
• Additional information on addressing employee personal hygiene and health including updates on front-of-house glove use and considerations when an employee is exposed to COVID-19.
• Updated guidance on providing ServSafe Food Handler and ServSafe COVID-19 training for all employees.

 
You can download a copy of the new Guidance document HERE. 

Mayor LaToya Cantrell announced that the City of New Orleans will continue its phased reopening plan by moving into Phase 3.2 at 6 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 17, which will further ease restrictions on audience size, bars and breweries, and live entertainment.

"We are encouraged by our residents' response to our guidelines in continuing the gradual reopening of the City, the low numbers of case rates and hospitalizations, and the strengthening of our local economy as we respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. We hope to move from Phase 3.2 to Phase 3.3 in the same time frame, but to do that we have to adhere to the mandatory wearing of face coverings and practicing the social distancing needed now more than ever with the easement of these restrictions. New Orleans is coming back strong, and we can't go back or go back and forth," said Mayor Cantrell.

"Today, we continue to meet all of our public health milestones, including case numbers, positivity rates, testing, and hospital capacity, since we initiated Phase 3 two weeks ago,” said New Orleans Health Department Director Dr. Jennifer Avegno. "That indicates slow COVID-19 disease growth in Orleans Parish and allows us to continue to ease restrictions for activities that are have been shown locally to have relatively low risk of outbreak or community spread, activities that are outdoors, and timed and seated events. We've also given special consideration to bringing back jobs for residents with the least impact on public health, and to ensuring that policies do not worsen inequities."

All activities during the stages of Phase 3 must still include the crucial tenets of disease control, including the following:

• Masks are required in public, except during personal recreation.
• All activities allowed in Phase 3 must include strict social distancing.
• All businesses must follow the City and State guidelines for safe operations.
  
  

Changes in Phase 3.2, which will go into effect at 6 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 17, include the following:

• Indoor live entertainment will be allowed with a Special Event Permit in restaurants, indoor event venues, and concert halls. Singing, karaoke, and wind-blown instruments are prohibited indoors.
• Bars and breweries without LDH food permits will be allowed to have outdoor seating of 25% permitted occupancy or 50 individuals, whichever is fewer. Alcohol sales are limited to the hours of 8 a.m. and 11 p.m.
• Breweries with an LDH food permit will be allowed to have indoor seating of 25% of permitted occupancy and outdoor seating of 100% permitted occupancy or 50 individuals, whichever is fewer. Alcohol sales are limited to the hours of 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. The City of New Orleans is making this provision in its guidelines because unlike bars, breweries are not eligible to apply for the State’s conditional restaurant permit.
• Houses of worship, movie theaters, and conference venues will be allowed to open for timed, seated events at 50% of permitted occupancy or 500 individuals, whichever is fewer.
• Outdoor stadiums and large arenas will be allowed to have 25% permitted occupancy or 500 individuals, whichever is fewer.
• Concert halls will be allowed to open for timed, seated events at 50% of permitted occupancy or 250 individuals, whichever is fewer, with approval from the State Fire Marshal and the City’s Department of Safety and Permits. Singing, karaoke, and wind-blown instruments are prohibited indoors and alcohol sales are limited to the hours of 8 a.m. to 11 p.m.
  
  

The City’s Phase 3.2 guidelines will also include an updated policy from the State of Louisiana, which requires that alcohol sales at restaurants be accompanied by food sales.

For more information, visit ready.nola.gov/reopening. You can also read the guidelines here.

Resolution (R-20-356) by District C Councilmember Kristin Gisleson Palmer notifies Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards that New Orleans is opting into on-site alcohol and food consumption at local bars. The resolution formally authorizes the reopening of bars under the New Orleans Health Department Phase 3 guidelines and Governor Edwards's September 11 proclamation. 
​
In the Louisiana Department of Health's most recent data, New Orleans bars are located in a parish with less than 5% of positive COVID-19 cases for two consecutive weeks. This also satisfies a requirement in the Governor's Phase 3 reopening guidelines. 
 
The resolution will not allow bars to reopen and operate with on-site consumption until Mayor LaToya Cantrell and the New Orleans Health Department establish proper rules and guidelines along with plans for enforcing and penalties for bad actors.  Additional restrictions are provided in the Governor's September 11 proclamation, including that bars will be closed for on-site consumption should the parish exceed 10% COVID-19 positivity rates for two consecutive weeks.
 
"Based on the latest data from the State's Department of Health and the Governor, our city has met the milestones to reopen with on-site alcohol sales safely, but this does not mean the pandemic is over. The Council expects all bars, restaurants, and establishments and their patrons to follow safety measures and guidelines to reduce the virus's spread. I have spoken with numerous bar owners across my district who have been planning for months to have appropriate measures in place to operate safely. They have suffered economically more than most and yet have made it clear that they understand their responsibility to the community's public health. Any establishment that doesn't respect the rules should not be allowed to operate. They should not be allowed to undo the work that so many others across this city have done." said Councilmember Palmer.
 
To view the full meeting agenda, click here.
 
WHEN:
Thursday, October 15, 2020, at 10 AM
 
WHERE:
The meeting may be accessed using the following methods:

• Watch live stream of the meeting on YouTube here or on the Council's website here
• Live Television Broadcast on Cox Cable Channel 6 in Orleans Parish

​Feeling like 2020 cannot end soon enough? Shut-downs, phases, and the long list of new rules for businesses to follow have taken a toll. The reality of long-term closures, even with the current modifications, has gripped the industry with a relentless hold. According to a new survey by the National Restaurant Association, nearly 1 in 6 restaurants (representing nearly 100,000 restaurants) is closed either permanently or long-term; nearly 3 million employees are still out of work; and the industry is on track to lose $240 billion in sales by the end of the year. (restaurant.org) With the restaurant industry at the forefront of the pandemic’s economic demise, recovery is expected to take years, possibly decades. What does the industry look like post COVID? As the days have turned into weeks and the weeks have turned into months, many have questioned the future of the businesses they have worked and sacrificed their lives for. Years of nights, weekends and holidays invested in an industry built on community support gone almost overnight.

Is there a silver lining in the gravity of complete and utter devastation caused by a world crisis? Embracing change and pivoting to new business models proved to be a theme for 2020. Many chose to dig in and grind at a pace more labor intensive than ever before. Innovation and new ideas surfaced and moved a nation to create, rebuild and lend a hand to help others in need. Families spent more time together and found themselves in the kitchen working on meals while forced to dine at home. Usual routines filled with work, ball games and outings were all but scrapped. The country was forced to find ways to entertain rambunctious children, feed hungry housemates and survive without the usual access to provisions.

So, when asked if there is a silver lining for me as I shifted from fully booked months of catering and a staffed kitchen to government halted events and skeleton crews for daily operations, my answer was, remarkably, yes. My silver lining through all this was embracing and putting to use the many teachings from my late grandparents. The story of losing and yet getting back in the game is very evident in the stories they passed on to me. Both my grandparents were hard-working entrepreneurs. They both survived the Great Depression and raised 4 children while my grandfather was enlisted in World War II. My grandfather’s own mother died of the Spanish Flu when he was only 4. They were no stranger to being dealt a bad hand and moving on with life regardless. From summers spent with them growing and harvesting a vegetable garden, making toys and games from natural materials, and appreciating the quiet with daydreaming or napping, I learned simple life lessons which came in handy during the pandemic.

The summer of 2020 was a circus of sorts. I compare it to walking the tight rope with no net while juggling my family, my business and my sanity. There were also many positives from this unprecedented time. Engaging the family in the kitchen at work and home seemed to keep them occupied with tasks that doubled as learning. We also planted a wild-flower garden which ended up being harvested as beautiful flowers added to a few plates for dinner parties and photo shoots. Most of all, we sat together at the dinner table, turned off the television, put the cell phones on silent, and talked to each other. The reward was the seemingly endless hours of conversation spent over empty plates and full bellies. I learned so much about my “tribe” and what makes us all tick – and what areas we need to work on as a family to enhance our daily living. We are all still living in this crazy world, just in a different way.

As for the industry I chose as a career and have given 25 years of my life to, I am optimistic our industry will rally and return stronger than before. What drives me to return each day is my love for community and service to each customer who supports my business. I deeply appreciate the interactions with industry peers, customers, vendors, and the long list of each business associated with the restaurant industry. It is a family of friends and competitors. It is my family aside from my family at home and I want us all to prosper.

God bless us all and cheers to a new year with a fresh start!

Lisa Boudreaux-Lecoq
The Gilded Artichoke 
GBR Chapter President 2020

Louisiana will stay in Phase 3, keeping its strong COVID-19 mitigation measures, including a continued statewide mask mandate, in place for another 28 days, Gov. John Bel Edwards announced.

The Governor moved Louisiana to Phase 3 in September, following declines in new cases and hospitalizations. Case numbers have spiked already twice in Louisiana – once in April and again in July.

“Today, I’m announcing that Louisiana will stay in Phase 3 until at least November 6, as we continue to implement the mitigation measures developed for the state by the White House Coronavirus Task Force and supported by health experts that are having a positive impact on our battle against this public health emergency,” Gov. Edwards said. “All of the data shows improvement in Louisiana’s COVID situation because of the strong mitigation measures we have in place and because of the hard work of the people of Louisiana. These measures, which are supported by science, are allowing us to keep our case count and hospitalizations down, even as most of Louisiana’s businesses have expanded their operations and more people are moving about.

“We know that as schools return to in person learning, restaurants and bars open even more widely and more events begin, there is more risk to spreading COVID. I also remain incredibly concerned about how Hurricane Delta will impact our ability to operate community testing and also displace people in ways that may lead to spread.”

On Monday, Gov. Edwards announced that alcohol could be sold at sporting events in parishes that qualified and had opted in to re-open bars for on-site alcohol consumption, which is the only major change in the Governor’s Phase 3 order.

In addition, the Louisiana State Fire Marshal will issue guidance for fairs and festivals, which will allow event producers to submit a plan for approval. No outdoor fair or festival shall have more than 500 people.
​

• Click here to read the updated Phase 3 order.
• Click here to read the extension of emergency provisions that is also extended 28 days.