Sandy offers lessons to restaurateurs in NYC

But for many of the city’s 24,000 restaurants, the work has just begun: A long-term overhaul that could change much about the way restaurants operate, even those untouched by the storm.

Owners are re-examining their buildings’ infrastructure and architecture. They are questioning their industry’s tradition of placing kitchens and refrigerators in basements. For the first time, many are realising a need to set up backup power, communication systems and transportation networks.

“There is no business as usual, going forward,” Drew Nieporent said as he stood at the mahogany bar of his eerily empty Tribeca Grill on Saturday night, hours after the power returned. The restaurant has been a Greenwich Street landmark for 22 years, and Nieporent described his shock when its subbasement boiler room suddenly took on five feet of water and the basement prep kitchen filled with six inches of slosh.

“There are many lessons learned,” he said, estimating that he had lost $600,000 in revenues at three closed restaurants, and $30,000 worth of spoiled food. “We all want to be smart about this going forward. It’s a time of stocktaking, after reopening.” Which is in progress: Nobu on Saturday night, Corton on Tuesday and Tribeca Grill on Wednesday, if all goes well.

In a different part of the city and its dining spectrum, the 120-seat

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