Storm-whipped Stella! awarded DiRoNA honor

Nation's Restaurant News, Sept 19, 2005 by Lisa Jennings

LAS VEGAS -- Despite being selected for an award of excellence by the Distinguished Restaurants of North America, or DiRoNA, Scott Boswell and Tanya Babiak of the fine-dining restaurant Stella! in New Orleans weren't planning on attending the group's annual conference here earlier this month.

Business was booming at the French Quarter restaurant, co-owner Boswell said. "We were just too busy" to make the trek to Las Vegas to accept DiRoNA's honor in person, he explained.

Then Hurricane Katrina swept through the Gulf region.

Just before the storm hit, Babiak and Boswell fled to his hometown of Lake Charles, La., and stayed with his family. When it was over, loved ones and Stella! employees were all accounted for, and news reports indicated that the French Quarter had not seen the flooding that devastated most of the city. However, the partners were not allowed back into New Orleans to assess any damage.

So Babiak and Boswell decided to attend the Las Vegas conference, and they grinned broadly as they accepted an award for a restaurant that they weren't sure still existed but that they said they would rebuild regardless.

The owners of Stella! were among 76 award recipients celebrated at the 15th annual award gala that capped the four-day DiRoNA event at the Bellagio Hotel, which drew nearly 300 members of the 850-restaurant association. Also honored was Drew Nieporent, founder and president of Myriad Restaurant Group, who was inducted into DiRoNA's Hall of Fame.

Larry Work, DiRoNA's 2005 chairman, who also is president of Washington, D.C.-based Sam & Harry's Management Co., officially passed the gavel to incoming chairman Chick Marshall, owner of Mr. Stox in Anaheim, Calif.

Educational sessions at the DiRoNA gathering focused on such topics as service, food safety and the changing nature of fine dining, particularly in the host city of Las Vegas, which was proclaimed by some attendees to be the new culinary capital of the world.

Perhaps more than anything, however, attendees were talking about Hurricane Katrina and how they could help, said Lisa Rand, DiRoNA's executive director.

In addition to DiRoNA's partnership with the National Restaurant Association's planned Oct. 5 "Dine For America" fund-raising event for the American Red Cross, members have been sending food donations to DiRoNA colleague John Folse, chef-owner of Lafitte's Landing in Donaldsonville, La., who is coordinating efforts to feed hurricane victims. "It's not just about money and employing restaurant workers," Rand said "It's about making sure folks are being fed and being fed well."

In August the group launched its first DiRoNA Week, a fundraising effort for the nonprofit, anti-hunger group Share Our Strength. Rand said she could not yet state the amount of contributions. Those initiatives are part of an ongoing effort to build awareness of the DiRoNA brand, Marshall said. He said DiRoNA also is planning to create an advisory committee made up of key media representatives that would help evaluate prospective members. James Doherty, executive vice president of Lebhar-Friedman Inc., which publishes Nation's Restaurant News and DiRoNA's membership guide, will lead the committee.

To qualify for DiRoNA membership, restaurants must be in business under the same ownership for at least three years and pass an independent and anonymous 75-point inspection.

Marshall said the group also is considering the creation of a new category for up-and-coming restaurants that may be known as "promising newcomers." A meeting to discuss that plan is scheduled for March in Healdsburg, Calif.

DiRoNA's Hall of Fame was established in 1993 and includes 14 members who have been recognized for their contributions to fine dining over more than 25 years.

Inductee Nieporent's New York-based Myriad group operates Montrachet, Tribeca Grill, Pulse, Centrico, Nobu, Next Door Nobu, Nobu Fifty Seven, and Tribakery there, as well as Nobu London, Rubicon in San Francisco, Lucca in Boca Raton, Fla., and The Coach House in Martha's Vineyard, Mass. Myriad is preparing to make its Midwest debut with a restaurant for a hotel under construction in Louisville, Ky., that is scheduled to open next year.

In stating several of his operating principals, Nieporent advised peers to be confident "without B.S."; set their standards high, "then set them higher"; don't overpay your staff, but don't underpay them either; don't expect to find a balance between work and home life; train employees every day; don't make yourself too important; treat guests like you want to be treated; and treat employees better than customers.