NEW ORLEANS — Hundreds of thousands of people are in town for the 30th Essence Fest and throughout the weekend, New Orleans culture – including the food will be on display.
Now, in a weekend that's expected to bring in about $300 million, local residents and advocates are hoping some of that money will be more evenly spread out among local restaurants.
"A lot of our businesses are not in the city center so in order to enjoy them you have to travel a little bit but with the Essence crowd coming in they complain about 'oh my goodness we’re going to have to wait in lines and lines and lines', Jalence Isles, founder of 'Where Black Nola Eats' said.
"But you know what you can take a quick rideshare ten to 15 minutes out of the city center and have no lines and really come here and have a huge economic impact on our local Black-owned businesses," Isles said.
The hope comes after another local event, Restaurant Week New Orleans, lacked representation, according to Isles. With 83 restaurants featured, only 1 was Black-owned.
"Make the campaign representative of the city," Isles said. "Are you here to perpetuate the disparity do you actually want to sell the New Orleans culture and make this a place that is safe for us?"
The Louisiana Restaurant Association, which puts on Restaurant Week New Orleans told WWL Louisiana that the event is membership-based and emails go out "to encourage member registration and participation." When we asked how many of their New Orleans-based members are Black-owned, they did not respond.
Vance Vaucresson, owner of Vaucresson's Creole Cafe and Deli said he is a member but doesn't remember seeing any emails urging him to participate in the event.
"I saw promotions for restaurant week but I don’t know if there was a specific solicitation for members of LRA," he said. "But I’m going to go back and research Andi would like to know and if there were not, I’m going to reach out and say how can we help you know how to communicate better."
Isles says more should be done than just emails, not just to encourage participation in Restaurant Week, but to get more business to Black-owned restaurants throughout the entire year. She hopes this week will be different.
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