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CNN Saturday Morning News

Interview with Lee Hanson

Aired August 16, 2003 - 07:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Air conditioners are humming and the subway trains are running again in New York City. And Governor George Pataki says even that's hard to believe.
CNN's Michael Okwu has more in this live report from New York -- it looks a little a lonely out there, Michael.

It looks like folks are sleeping in now that they've got a little A.C., hey?

MICHAEL OKWU, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, folks are sleeping in. I actually saw some people jogging this morning, which is something I had not seen in the past 36 hours or so, everybody conserving their energy. This is what you call the meat packing district. And if you're familiar with New York City, you'll know that this is a very sort of chic downtown spot. It's a spot where the streets are just teeming with people late at night. Certainly that has not been the case for the past 48 hours or so. These streets were in complete and total blackness, just as the rest of New York City, and it is now finally getting back up on its feet.

This is a restaurant called Pastis. And if you've been to New York City, you've probably been told oh, you've go to stop by Pastis, it's a really chic place. And, in fact, we've got one of the co- executive chefs here, Lee Hanson, who is conveniently standing here, as if we didn't plan that.

Lee, how were you affected by the blackout?

LEE HANSON, CO-EXECUTIVE CHEF, PASTIS: Well, very much affected. We lost, you know, a couple services of lunch, a couple dinner services. We actually got going yesterday. Our power came on like late in the afternoon and we kind of got a last minute crew together and were able to put a small menu together here at Pastis and serve dinner from six to about 12.

OKWU: Now, really...

HANSON: A lot of bar business, too. We did about a couple hundred people, too, which was really (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

OKWU: Right. Now, earlier this morning I saw huge blocks of ice, I mean the size of, you know, I don't know, whale's heads or something.

HANSON: Right. Right.

OKWU: Now, and they were all sitting out here sort of, you know, wasting away. What was the point of that? Did you have to bring...

HANSON: That was some of the stuff we used to preserve some of our items. We, of course, lost probably about 30 percent of our stuff, 40 percent maybe, most cooked, prepped things. But as far as meat and fish, we have a walk in freezer that we put everything in and just kind of ice it down and we were able to save those things.

OKWU: Now, I know that you're a chef. You're behind cooking all this good stuff. But do you have any sense of how much business you lost?

HANSON: Kind of. I'm trying not to think about it too much, because I think the numbers are pretty big, especially at our other restaurant, Balkazar (ph), which lost two full days and all of our product is probably going to be pretty much gone, destroyed in that, so.

OKWU: So you have to see what you can do to get back. Are people making it to work, by the way? Because that was an issue, as well, right?

HANSON: Yesterday, definitely not. Today we are seeing some people come in and it might be a little tight.

OKWU: Lee Hanson, thank you.

HANSON: Thank you.

OKWU: I'll be eating here shortly.

HANSON: Please do.

OKWU: Lee is happy. He's going to get back to business today. A lot of New Yorkers are happy, including the 14 of the 24 subway lines that are up and running. Broadway tickets are being sold again and that is a great relief to a lot of the tourists who have come to New York City to try to get a little bit of culture here.

Back to you guys.

WHITFIELD: All right, lots of good signs. Back in business just in time for the weekend.

Thanks a lot, Michael.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired August 16, 2003 - 07:30   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Air conditioners are humming and the subway trains are running again in New York City. And Governor George Pataki says even that's hard to believe.
CNN's Michael Okwu has more in this live report from New York -- it looks a little a lonely out there, Michael.

It looks like folks are sleeping in now that they've got a little A.C., hey?

MICHAEL OKWU, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, folks are sleeping in. I actually saw some people jogging this morning, which is something I had not seen in the past 36 hours or so, everybody conserving their energy. This is what you call the meat packing district. And if you're familiar with New York City, you'll know that this is a very sort of chic downtown spot. It's a spot where the streets are just teeming with people late at night. Certainly that has not been the case for the past 48 hours or so. These streets were in complete and total blackness, just as the rest of New York City, and it is now finally getting back up on its feet.

This is a restaurant called Pastis. And if you've been to New York City, you've probably been told oh, you've go to stop by Pastis, it's a really chic place. And, in fact, we've got one of the co- executive chefs here, Lee Hanson, who is conveniently standing here, as if we didn't plan that.

Lee, how were you affected by the blackout?

LEE HANSON, CO-EXECUTIVE CHEF, PASTIS: Well, very much affected. We lost, you know, a couple services of lunch, a couple dinner services. We actually got going yesterday. Our power came on like late in the afternoon and we kind of got a last minute crew together and were able to put a small menu together here at Pastis and serve dinner from six to about 12.

OKWU: Now, really...

HANSON: A lot of bar business, too. We did about a couple hundred people, too, which was really (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

OKWU: Right. Now, earlier this morning I saw huge blocks of ice, I mean the size of, you know, I don't know, whale's heads or something.

HANSON: Right. Right.

OKWU: Now, and they were all sitting out here sort of, you know, wasting away. What was the point of that? Did you have to bring...

HANSON: That was some of the stuff we used to preserve some of our items. We, of course, lost probably about 30 percent of our stuff, 40 percent maybe, most cooked, prepped things. But as far as meat and fish, we have a walk in freezer that we put everything in and just kind of ice it down and we were able to save those things.

OKWU: Now, I know that you're a chef. You're behind cooking all this good stuff. But do you have any sense of how much business you lost?

HANSON: Kind of. I'm trying not to think about it too much, because I think the numbers are pretty big, especially at our other restaurant, Balkazar (ph), which lost two full days and all of our product is probably going to be pretty much gone, destroyed in that, so.

OKWU: So you have to see what you can do to get back. Are people making it to work, by the way? Because that was an issue, as well, right?

HANSON: Yesterday, definitely not. Today we are seeing some people come in and it might be a little tight.

OKWU: Lee Hanson, thank you.

HANSON: Thank you.

OKWU: I'll be eating here shortly.

HANSON: Please do.

OKWU: Lee is happy. He's going to get back to business today. A lot of New Yorkers are happy, including the 14 of the 24 subway lines that are up and running. Broadway tickets are being sold again and that is a great relief to a lot of the tourists who have come to New York City to try to get a little bit of culture here.

Back to you guys.

WHITFIELD: All right, lots of good signs. Back in business just in time for the weekend.

Thanks a lot, Michael.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com