Archived Article By Tom Fitzmorris Originally published May 1, 2006 Click here for the current edition Dickie Brennan's Steakhouse Reopens The big-time nonconformity of this restaurant (it's the only eatery in this low-lying town whose dining rooms are below street level) resulted in a unique flooding story. Dickie Brennan's Steakhouse was the only place in town flooded entirely with filtered water. "When I came in to check things out after the hurricane," says co-owner Steve Pettus, "the water was three feet deep, but you could see all the way to the floor, like in a swimming pool." You could have bathed in it, and perhaps even drunk it. The water came in through a sump pump which, after the power went out, could no longer exclude ground water pressing up from under the building. The pump ran through a filter, and so the water that came up was filtered too. None of that kept the damage in the Steakhouse from being so bad that the entire lower level had to be rebuilt as if it had never been there. And Friday night, a good bit ahead of schedule, it opened to a dry run (literally) of friends. Everything went off perfectly, so they opened the place on Saturday night to a full house of regular customers. The return of Dickie Brennan's Steakhouse is more important than most reopenings. The whole steakhouse category was slammed to the ground by the storm, and is just now starting to revive. This is a good one to have back: all prime beef, cooked in interesting and localized ways, served in a comfortable, masculine dining room. Indeed, they made things a little more comfortable, increasing the size of the banquettes and raising the ceiling a little. By getting the Bourbon House open quickly after the hurricane and keeping most of the staff on payroll, Dickie Brennan's outfit managed to have most of the experienced people they needed to get the Steakhouse going again, at least on a five-nights-a-week schedule (Wednesdays through Sundays). So bring on the black-iron-skillet sirloin strip! © 2006 Tom Fitzmorris. All rights reserved. news@nomenu.com