If you’re a Treme fan, you’re familiar with the chef who lost her restaurant to post-Katraina issues? Janette Deusatel? Bayona chef Susan Spicer coached her.

Bayona on Dauphine in the French Quarter is one of my favorite restaurants. Turns out Spicer is now mixing things up with BP: she’s filed a lawsuit against the company becuase of this oil disaster.

Here’s what she has to say:

Bayona Corporation brought a class action lawsuit on behalf of restaurants in New Orleans who are impacted by the ongoing oil spill.

The lawsuit is more about the restaurant industry in New Orleans than about Susan Spicer and Bayona.

Spicer said, “It is not as if the situation is under control and we are in the process of recovery. We still don’t know how long it will continue and how drastic the effects will be on our industry and our culture.”

In spite of the oil spill, Bayona and many New Orleans restaurants are able to put out amazing food and meet their customers’ needs. “It is important for people to realize that all of great reasons to come to New Orleans still exist,” Spicer said. Although this lawsuit encompasses current damages, prospective damages to the New Orleans restaurant industry are the primary focus.

Spicer said, “Just as after Katrina certain restaurants were able to survive, we are now losing many of the smaller restaurants and seafood related businesses that make up the fabric of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast.”

Access to local Gulf seafood is diminishing and more expensive than it was before the oil spill. Despite stringent safety measures being taken to ensure that no tainted seafood is sold, customers — both locally and nationwide — are beginning to avoid Gulf seafood products. “I have great confidence in my local vendors and the local products that I am serving, but I know my suppliers are suffering from the reality of a diminished supply and the misperception that all Gulf seafood is unsafe,” said Spicer.

“I’m proud to be a part of such a resilient community. I also feel strongly that British Petroleum needs to be held accountable for its negligence,” Spicer said.

May 13, 2010, New Orleans, LA – The lineup for GULF AID’s two stages is set. Great music from noon – 10pm, with Lenny Kravitz closing out the daylong concert that features a spectacular offering of musicians, all of whom are pitching in to raise money for the wetlands/coastal environmental issues and the well-being of fishermen and the regional seafood industry . GULF AID takes place Sunday, May 16 at Mardi Gras World – River City from noon-10p.m.

There are two stages – the Wetlands stage(indoor) and the Coastal stage (outdoor). The attached schedule provides performance times for: Lenny Kravitz, John Legend, Mos Def, Allen Toussaint, Ani DiFranco, The Voice of the Wetlands Allstars (featuring Tab Benoit, Dr. John, Cyril Neville, George Porter Jr., Waylon Thibodeaux, Big Chief Monk Boudreaux, Johnny Sansone, and Johnny Vidacovich), Zachary Richard, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Ivan Neville’s Dumpstaphunk, Soul Rebels Brass Band, Beausoleil, Steve Riley and The Mamou Playboys with Jon Cleary, Marcia Ball, Irvin Mayfield’s Playhouse Review, Kermit Ruffins and the BBQ Swingers, Rebirth Brass Band, Big Sam’s Funky Nation, Shamarr Allen, Jeremy Davenport and MyNameIsJohnMichael.

Tickets are $50 and are available exclusively via Elevate (www.elevate.com). Kids under 10 years of age are free. VIP tickets are now available, also via Elevate for $250 and include an open bar, access to the Mansion (an indoor area with AC & casual seating), balcony view of indoor stage and upgraded bathrooms.

Local restaurants are also stepping up for the benefit and will have food booths at the festival. Confirmed restaurant and food vendors include: Acme Oyster House, ARAMARK Convention Centers, Bacco, Besh Resturant Group-Luke, Bourbon House, Bourbon Vieux, Broussard’s Restaurant, The Crazy Lobster, Crepes a la Cart, G.W. Fins, Galatoire’s, Juan’s Flying Burrito, Lucy’s, Manogo Freeze, Mr. B’s Bistro, Praline Connection, The Rib Room at Omni Royal Orleans, Sun Ray Grill, and Wolfe’s Restaurant.

Folding chairs will be allowed at GULF AID’s outdoor stage.

All funds will be managed and distributed by Gulf Aid in partnership with WWOZ. Donations may be made at gulfaid.org or mailed to Gulf Relief Foundation, a 501 C3 non-profit corporation located at P.O. Box 6917, Metairie, LA 70009.

The event is taking place through donations from numerous businesses, restaurants, musicians and media partners including WWOZ FM, Rehage Entertainment, Sidney D. Torres, IV, owner of SDT Waste and Debris, Barry Kern and Joe Jaeger, partners in Mardi Gras World.

Donations site: gulfaid.org

Facebook; http://www.facebook.com/gulfaid

Twitter: twitter.com/gulfaid

Oil Spill Latest: Plaquemines Parish Braces….

http://www.fox8live.com/mediacenter/local.aspx?videoid=19213@wvue.web.entriq.net&navCatId=3

http://www.fox8live.com/mediacenter/local.aspx?videoid=19213@wvue.web.entriq.net&navCatId=3&articleID=19204

UPDATE 12 – Deepwater Horizon Update
The unified command continues with a comprehensive oil well intervention and spill-response plan following the April 22 sinking of the Transocean Deepwater Horizon drilling rig 130 miles southeast of New Orleans. More than 1,000 personnel are involved in the response effort both on and offshore with additional resources being mobilized as needed.

The Minerals Management Service remains in contact with all oil and gas operators in the sheen area. Currently, no production has been curtailed as a result of the response effort.

Incident Facts:

A flyover on Wednesday, April 28 at 2:00 p.m. (CDT), continued to show a large, rainbow sheen with areas of emulsified crude, approximately 16 miles off the coast of Louisiana.

On April 28 at approximately 4:45 p.m. (CDT), the response team conducted a successful, controlled in-situ burn and is evaluating conducting additional burns.

More than 174,060 feet of boom (barrier) has been assigned to contain the spill. An additional 243,260 feet is available and 265,460 feet has been ordered.

To date, the oil spill response team has recovered 18,180 barrels (763,560 gallons) of an oil-water mix. Vessels are in place and continuing recovery operations.

76 response vessels are being used including skimmers, tugs, barges and recovery vessels.

98,361 gallons of dispersant have been deployed and an additional 75,000 gallons are available.

Five staging areas are in place and ready to protect sensitive shorelines. These areas include:

Biloxi, Miss., Pensacola, Fla. Venice, La., Pascagoula, Miss., and Theodore, Ala.

Weather conditions for April 29 – Winds from the southeast at 5-15 mph, choppy rough seas.

126 people were on the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig when the incident occurred. 11 remain unaccounted for; 17 were injured, 3 of them critically. 1 injured person remains in the hospital.

Massive oil rig explosion and fire off the coast of Venice. A search and rescue is mission is underway to find 11-15 missing workers. No word on the casue of the explosion, only that it happened around 10pm Tuesday night.
http://www.fox8live.com/mediacenter/local.aspx?videoid=19082@wvue.web.entriq.net

Today the USS New York set sail out of Avondale Shipyard to her homeport of Norfolk. The folks in Louisiana spent the past five years building her, partially out of steel recovered from the World Trade Center. There’s also a plaque made out of recovered wood from 2 shrimp boats lost to Hurricane Katrina. We were live from The USS New York for four hours during her journey down the Mississippi. Truly an amazing experience!

Live interview while sailing down the Mississippi

Raising the American flag

Passing the Crescent City Connection

Waving goodbye

Waving Goodbye to New Orleans

Talking our way down the Mississippi

Thick Fog during our journey

21 gun salute

USS New York

USS New York passing the Huey Long Bridge

After taking to much time off from my workouts in between Birmingham and New Orleans, I decided there was no better way to jump into both the Crescent City and shaping back up than Fitness Boot Camp. Plus, two of my sorority sisters, Katie and Arianne, are sharing my early morning misery, so it’s fun once I wake up and catch my breathe. We start at 5:30 am in Audubon Park. It’s a bit like gym class and aerobics on steroids for an hour!

If you want to check it out: www.nolabootcamp.com