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  	<title>Witnessing Houston&#039;s Harvey Recovery Effort First-Hand | Mixed Case: Opinion and Advice | Blogs | Wine Spectator</title>
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			<h6>With floodwaters receding, Houstonians reach for their bootstraps</h6>

      
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            				    					      <div class="caption-inner">To sort through product efficiently, the Houston Food Bank uses a rotating contraption more often seen in automotive factories.</div>
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			<h6 >Posted: Sep 19, 2017  2:00pm ET</h6>
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			<h6>By <a href="/blogs/author/id/476">Emma Balter</a></h6>
            
	        
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                        <p>As
we watch Hurricane Maria barrel through the Caribbean, I'm reminded of my recent
trip to Houston. My planned vacation to visit a friend looked
dire when <a href="http://www.winespectator.com/webfeature/show/id/Texas-Restaurants-Weather-Harvey-Storm-Flood-Rain">Hurricane
Harvey hit southeast Texas</a>, but when airports reopened later that
week, to my surprise, I managed to fly in. The city's residents were slowly
coming out of their homes, trying to get back to normal and move forward amid
the unprecedented damage.</p>
<p>Late
one morning, locals at Last Concert Café, a Mexican restaurant in Houston's
Warehouse District, were abuzz with storm stories, catching up over enchiladas
and queso. Portable fans were airing out the back room; a mustiness pervaded. When
I asked my server, Esteban, how the restaurant had fared, he bent down to
indicate the water level with his hand against a banquette. Just a few inches,
he said. "I feel bad for people who lost everything."</p>
<p>A
couple of blocks down, on the opposite side of Nance Street, <a href="http://www.winespectator.com/webfeature/show/id/Chefs-Bring-Hope-to-Houston">Theodore
Rex had not been so fortunate</a>. After a successful "friends and
family" pre-opening party, the restaurant was preparing to open to the
public when Harvey hit. Nearly 2 feet of floodwater swept through the dining
room and kitchen.</p>
<p>A
week later, the space was, understandably, a mess. Furniture had been pulled
away from the walls, or brought outside to dry. Contractors were at work. Chef-owner
Justin Yu was standing in the kitchen, trying to stay in good spirits.
"We're lucky that we're safe. But some days it's a lot to take in,"
he said. He lost two coolers, and a transformer that powered one of his ovens had
to be replaced. "Most of the furniture was OK, although it's wood. It's
something we have to take a look at over time, to see if the wood is structurally
sound," he said.</p>
<p>Yu
hoped to be open for good in another month. He wants to make sure they're
"a safe business to be cooking out of." As I walked out, I ran into
the furniture maker. Since the storm, he had been checking in on all of his
clients—some businesses and some individuals. Most were OK, but those who were
hit were hit hard, he said.</p>
<p>I
traveled closer to Buffalo Bayou, where the water levels were still higher than
usual. Spaghetti Warehouse, a red-sauce Italian chain, sits on a slope on the
bayou's banks. The receding waters appeared to have taken some of the
restaurant's stucco with it. As I approached the front and tried to peer inside,
someone called out to me: "Closed! There's no one in there!" The man
worked in the kitchen, and was standing there with two other employees.</p>
<p>They
said the damage was very bad inside; they sounded overwhelmed and defeated. The
first floor of the restaurant had been submerged, and they had no indication
when they would have jobs to return to. Spaghetti Warehouse issued a statement
saying they were committed to reopening, and had set up a fund to help their
employees in the meantime.</p>
<p>The
main concern of the Houston restaurateurs I spoke with was staff safety and
security. All agreed that the curfew (since lifted) put in place by Houston's
mayor to avoid looting was a big thorn in business owners' sides. When I dined
at Coltivare, in the Heights, owner Morgan Weber was vocal. His staff was out
of work for five days after the storm, he told me, and to close shop at 10 p.m.
meant they couldn't make the tips they needed to get back on their feet. But
overall, he felt grateful that nothing worse had happened to them.</p>
<p>Being
in Houston so shortly after Harvey was eerie. The whole city had been affected,
but I was struck by the flood's indiscriminate path. Along the highway, some
neighborhoods looked untouched, only to reveal cars and houses submerged to
their roofs on the next block.</p>
<p>
<a rel="zoomout_group" title="Justin Yu had been excited about the new touches he had put on his upcoming restaurant, Theodore Rex." href="/contentimage/wso/Articles/2017/MC_Houston5_1000.jpg">
    <img src="/contentimage/wso/Articles/2017/MC_Houston5_100.jpg" alt="Photo by Emma Balter" /></a>
<a rel="zoomout_group" title="The rising waters from Buffalo Bayou lapped away at the back of Spaghetti Warehouse, and ravaged the inside." href="/contentimage/wso/Articles/2017/MC_Houston3_1000.jpg">
    <img src="/contentimage/wso/Articles/2017/MC_Houston3_100.jpg" alt="Photo by Emma Balter" /></a>
<a rel="zoomout_group" title="A line of volunteers busy at work at the Houston Food Bank" href="/contentimage/wso/Articles/2017/MC_Houston4_1000.jpg">
    <img src="/contentimage/wso/Articles/2017/MC_Houston4_100.jpg" alt="Photo by Paula Murphy" /></a>
<a rel="zoomout_group" title="Canned foods and non-perishables were donated, sorted, and then distributed to the community." href="/contentimage/wso/Articles/2017/MC_Houston2_1000.jpg">
    <img src="/contentimage/wso/Articles/2017/MC_Houston2_100.jpg" alt="Photo by Paula Murphy" /></a></p>
<h4>Picking Up, and Helping
Out</h4>
<p>Two
words echoed often during my trip: "survivor's guilt." Houstonians
who'd survived the storm relatively unscathed were all hands on deck. For many,
that meant pitching in at the Houston Food Bank. Stepping inside the massive
warehouse, I found myself surrounded by palettes stacked high with packaged
foods and fresh produce. Volunteers scurried from station to station, sorting
supplies and loading trucks.</p>
<p>"As
part of disaster relief, a food bank typically continues its mission in
distributing massive amounts of food into the community," chief
communications officer Betsy Ballard told me that morning. She estimated that
they distributed over 100 million pounds of product last year. In Harvey's
aftermath, they'd been distributing up to 1 million pounds a day. As of last
Saturday, the organization had welcomed just under 13,000 new volunteers,
totaling over 44,000 hours of work.</p>
<p>"It's
very important to us to provide good nutrition when we're distributing product.
Especially now," said Ballard of their efforts to include fresh produce
among the usual non-perishables. "We need good nutrition during
high-stress times."</p>
<p>The
restaurant industry is helping out too. Houston Restaurant Weeks has been
extended through Sept. 30, with proceeds benefitting the Houston Food Bank. <a href="https://restaurants.winespectator.com/search/q/within=metro_region%253A%2522Houston%2520Metro%2520Area%2522&amp;withinDisplay=Houston%2520Metro%2520Area">Area <i>Wine Spectator</i> Restaurant Award winners</a> Brennan's of Houston, Brenner's Steakhouse, Del Frisco's, Eddie V's Prime
Seafood, Fleming's, Ill Forks, KUU Restaurant, Kiran's, La Table, Masraff's,
Morton's, Perry's, Prego, Rainbow Lodge, Robard's, Ruth's Chris Steak House,
Seasons 52, Smith &amp; Wollensky, Sonoma Wine Bar &amp; Restaurant, the
Capital Grille, the Palm, Third Coast, Tony's, Vallone's Steakhouse, Vic &amp;
Anthony's Steakhouse and Willi G's Seafood &amp; Steak are participating.</p>
<p>Ballard
thinks this will be the largest disaster she's yet seen. "I [was] here for
both Katrina and Ike. I suspect that this is going to go on a lot longer than
Ike, because of the sheer scale of homes that were affected ... People will have
trouble feeding themselves for months to come. That's where we'll be."</p>
<p><i>You can follow Emma Balter on Twitter, at <a href="http://twitter.com/emmabalter" target="_blank">twitter.com/emmabalter</a>, and Instagram, at <a target="_blank" href="http://instagram.com/ecbalter/">instagram.com/ecbalter</a>.</i></p>            </div>


        
	
    		
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