2001年9/11幸存者经营的餐馆具有使命感

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 through space. He apparently 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 inferno. 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. "After the tragedy, it was so hard to find a job. After three years of working hard every week, every month, so 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 shredded pork and rice, Philippine spring rolls, Thai chicken and papaya, Italian risotto, Haitian conch salad, Congolese seafood, Peruvian rice cakes.

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 sleek 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 you know, 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. And you know, we have maps everywhere." 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. 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 that we are trying 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 frankly the stakes are much higher. The ambitions and the mission of this restaurant are fairly noble. So we do want to make it succeed."

2001年9月11号纽约遭受恐怖袭击时让人最难忘的一幕是一位身穿白衣的人从空中跌落的惨景。挥之不去的细节是：他的那顶厨师帽当时是朝着下方。他显然是为了逃脱世贸大厦的熊熊烈火而从106层大楼上纵身跳下的。世界之窗餐厅70多名雇员和100多名顾客葬身于火海之中。现在，那家餐厅的幸存者，包括男女服务员、杂工以及厨师正在经营着他们自己的餐馆---“多风采”(Colors)。对于像酒吧招待员巴伦西亚这样的人来说，多风采餐馆既是对他们逝去的同事的悼念，也是一种独立的象征。他说：“悲剧过后，找工作非常困难。经过3年日日夜夜的努力，梦想终于成为现实了。”

这家新餐馆的业主代表了20多个国家。他们把各自祖国的菜谱贡献出来，使餐馆的菜单具有国际风味。用餐的顾客可以从全球性的菜单上选择佳肴，其中包括：哥伦比亚猪肉丝和米饭、菲律宾春卷、泰国鸡和番木瓜、意大利调味饭、海地海螺沙拉、刚果海鲜和秘鲁米糕。

玛姆多赫说，多风采餐馆的美食和气氛使它与众不同：“大厨和所有员工合作，从每个人的祖国拿出一些名菜，然后发展创新。真是很了不起。现在大家都在谈论这里的饭菜和服务。”

多风采的总经理麦尔瓦格纳姆说，餐馆的装潢采用了1930年代光亮的装饰艺术风格，墙壁上贴满了地图，这些都传扬出一种信息：“从美国历史的角度来看，30年代经历了许多社会改革，无论是罗斯福总统推行的‘新政’，还是那段时期在美国开始建立的社会安全保障体系，30年代发生了许多重要事件。因此，我们要说的是，我们不仅是来自世界各地，而且也在称颂美国是个移民国家这一事实。我们到处都有地图。”麦尔瓦格纳姆说，为了开办这家员工自我拥有的餐馆而融资200万美元很不容易，而员工们都是移民，这就更是难上加难了。“我们来这里，证明我们能办得到。我们来这里证明另一生种方法也能办得到，证明团队通常要胜于一个人单干。我们员工已经经历过这种痛苦。但是，大多数会相信我们这个餐馆会成功的。”

多风采得到的帮助主要来自“餐馆机会中心”(Restaurant Opportunity Center)，这个中心是为雇员福利而奔走呼吁的组织。中心主任贾亚拉曼说，多风采餐馆将为餐饮业创立一种新的行业标准：“我们组织的主要目的就是为改善纽约市所有餐馆16万5千名雇员的工作条件而斗争。我们正在使用多种手段当中的一个来改善工作条件。这种方法就是树立一个以不同方式经营管理餐馆的样板，有不错的薪水和良好的工作条件。”

有的员工是洗碗工，或者杂工，对他们而言，最大的挑战是如何能够习惯当餐馆的主人。玛姆多赫说：“你在这里看到的大多数事情，无论是设计、挑选大厨、选择餐桌，还是决定酒吧应该什么样，玻璃应该怎么样，等等，都是通过民主协商的方式决定的。我们必须习惯于这种思想，那就是我们当中的每一个成员都是这个价值200万美元的餐馆的老板。”

多风采餐馆获得的初步评价相当不错。不过，竞争仍然很激烈。总经理麦尔瓦格纳姆明白，前方的路上关系着餐馆的生死存亡。他说：“从不好的一面来看，许多餐馆都垮了。可是，坦率地说，我们的成败得失更为重要。因为餐馆的雄心和使命都是相当崇高的。所以，我们确实希望能让餐馆取得成功。”