Archived Article By Tom Fitzmorris Originally published August 9, 2006 Click here for the current edition Good News About Christian's At the Food Service Expo over the weekend, I encountered many restaurateurs I haven't seen in awhile. Some of them had news. The best of those was Joey Bergeron, the son of Henry Bergeron, the owner of Christian's. (He was Chris Ansel's original partner when Christian's opened in the 1970s, and bought Ansel out some eight years ago.) Joey worked in the restaurant for awhile, but I hadn't seen him there in a long time. He said that the Katrina damage to Christian's hit his father hard (as how could it not?), and it's been tough to decide what to do next. But apparently the decision has been made. "We've tented and gassed the building to get rid of the mold, the way Manale's did" Joey said. "We pulled out all the electrical first, to avoid problems with that. We put it back in, and we've been able to get some of the refrigerators back running. And now it's a matter of getting the people in to to the rest of the work." Which, it seems, is no small amount. Although Christian's former church building was raised well off the ground, the flooding was very deep in Mid-City, and the damage to its utilities was deep. The Bergerons are not ready to even guess at a reopening date. But to have the process going on at all is much more encouraging than what we knew before. Christian's is a restaurant I constantly field questions about, and one that will be packed from the first day it reopens with its classic Creole menu. © 2006 Tom Fitzmorris. All rights reserved. news@nomenu.com