2006年VOA标准英语-Restaurant Owned By September 11th 2001 Su

By Barbara Schoetzau
New York, NY
15 March 2006
 
watch Colors Restaurant report

In a city like New York, which has over 15,000 restaurants, it is tough to attract attention.  But the new restaurant Colors stands apart because of its ownership. Colors is owned by a group of surviving immigrant employees from Windows on the World, the restaurant that occupied the top of one of the former World Trade Center towers that were destroyed in the September 2001 terrorist attacks. 

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One of the most enduring images of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attack on New York is that of a white clad figure, his chef's hat pointing downward, falling though space. He apparently¹ jumped 106 stories to escape the flames and intense heat of the fire.

More than 70 employees and 100 customers of Windows on the World died in the inferno².

Inside Colors restaurant  
  
Now the surviving restaurant workers -- waiters and waitresses, bus boys and cooks -- are running their own restaurant, called Colors.

For the workers, like bartender Patricio Valencia, the restaurant is a tribute to their lost colleagues and a symbol of independence.

 
Patricio Valencia
  
"After the tragedy, it was so hard to find a job. After three years of working hard every week, every month, finally this is a reality."

The new restaurant owners, representing more than 20 nations, have contributed recipes from their native countries to the menu, giving it a decidedly international flavor. Diners can choose from a menu spans the globe: Colombian shredded³ pork and rice, Philippine spring rolls, Thai chicken and papaya, Italian risotto, Haitian conch salad, Congolese seafood⁴, Peruvian rice cakes. 

Fekkad Mamdouh  
  
Fekkad Mamdouh says the food and atmosphere set Colors apart. "The chef worked with every worker to take something from his country and develop something great. It's amazing. Everybody is talking about the food. And also the service."

General Manager Stefan Mailvaganam says even the sleek⁵ 1930s decor design of the restaurant and map-covered walls have a message. "From a perspective of American history, it was a period of a lot of social reform, whether it is the New Deal, whether it was bringing in social safety nets for America, that is when a lot of things happened. So we are saying not only are we from everywhere else, but we also do celebrate the fact that America is a land of immigrants. We have maps everywhere."

Stefan Mailvaganam  
  
Stefan Mailvaganam says getting $2 million of financing for a business that is worker-owned is not easy, especially when the workers are immigrants.

"We are here to prove we can do this. We are here to prove that there is another way of doing it and that working as a team is often better than working as an individual. We already have experienced growing pains with staff about that. But it is going to take the majority of people believing in the vision of this restaurant to make it succeed."

Colors received major support from the Restaurant Opportunity Center, an advocacy groups for employee welfare. 

Saru Jayaraman  
  
The group's director, Saru Jayaraman, says Colors will set a new industry standard for the restaurant business. "The primary purpose of our organization is to fight to improve working conditions for all restaurant workers in New York City, all 165,000 of them. And we are using this as one tool of many to improve working conditions by creating a model of a different way of doing things. Good wages. Good working conditions."

One of the big challenges for the workers is getting used to being owners, even if they are dishwashers or busboys.

Mr. Mamdouh adds, "Most of the things you see here -- the design, choosing the chef, choosing the table, choosing how the bar is going to be, how this glass is going to be, it was all the democratic way. We have to get used to the idea that each one of us is the owner of this $2 million restaurant.

Initial reviews have been good. Still the competition is fierce and Stefan Mailvaganam knows a great deal is at stake.  "I suppose we have on the down side the fact that so many restaurants fail. But frankly⁶ the stakes are much higher. The ambitions and the mission of this restaurant are fairly noble. So we do want to make it succeed."

1 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

2 inferno   

n.火海；地狱般的场所

参考例句：

• Rescue workers fought to get to victims inside the inferno.救援人员奋力营救大火中的受害者。
• The burning building became an inferno.燃烧着的大楼成了地狱般的地方。

3 shredded   

shred的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• Serve the fish on a bed of shredded lettuce. 先铺一层碎生菜叶，再把鱼放上，就可以上桌了。
• I think Mapo beancurd and shredded meat in chilli sauce are quite special. 我觉得麻婆豆腐和鱼香肉丝味道不错。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 seafood   

n.海产食品，海味，海鲜

参考例句：

• There's an excellent seafood restaurant near here.离这儿不远有家非常不错的海鲜馆。
• Shrimps are a popular type of seafood.小虾是比较普遍的一种海味。

5 sleek   

adj.光滑的，井然有序的；v.使光滑，梳拢

参考例句：

• Women preferred sleek,shiny hair with little decoration.女士们更喜欢略加修饰的光滑闪亮型秀发。
• The horse's coat was sleek and glossy.这匹马全身润泽有光。

6 frankly   

adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说

参考例句：

• To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
• Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。