Tommy Cvitanovich was finally getting his business back on track nearly five years after flood water ravaged New Orleans. Then a BP oil rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, killing 11 people and wreaking havoc on those whose livelihoods depend on Gulf Coast seafood.
“We were just getting back to pre-Katrina stages,” says Cvitanovich, incoming Louisiana Restaurant Association chairman. “Now we have a national perception that our oysters aren’t safe. It’s going to take years to recover.”
Cvitanovich is among the restaurateurs, hospitality workers and others in the tourism industry filing claims seeking compensation for lost business after the April 22 explosion. BP agreed to pledge $20 billion to reimburse business owners, their employees and individuals affected by the oil spill.
Although Cvitanovich closed his Metairie, La., restaurant for a month after Hurricane Katrina, his losses from the oil spill are far greater because he never raised prices after the spill, he says.
Sales for July and August at Drago’s Seafood Restaurant & Oyster Bar in Metairie are down more than 30 percent from the same period last year. Sales also are down at Drago’s in downtown New Orleans, he says.
Before the oil spill, he paid 12 cents to 20 cents an oyster; now he pays up to 58 cents. His employees receive 20 to 40 calls a day asking whether the restaurants have oysters and shrimp. Cvitanovich is proud the restaurants have been able to serve oysters every day since the spill, except for three shifts.
The fallout from the oil spill goes far beyond Louisiana’s restaurants. National Restaurant Assocaition members throughout the Gulf Coast, as well as those elsewhere who rely on Gulf seafood, are dealing with lost sales and higher prices.
The perception that Gulf Coast seafood isn’t safe — or isn’t available — will take years to overcome, restaurateurs say.
"It will take a huge grassroots effort from the industry and a whole lot of marketing dollars,” Cvitanovich says.
