BY ANNETTE SISCO | STAFF WRITER Greetings, New Orleans food lovers! This week we assess the toll Hurricane Ida took on our restaurant community, with some kitchens fixing the damage while others sadly buckle under the pressures of the past two years. Frostop reopens in LaPlace, an old McDonald's drive-thru lane is repurposed as a grassroots food hub in New Orleans East, and Des Allemands bars promise bloody marys will be back. Read on... 1. The last straw. Already on the ropes two years into the pandemic, now knocked flat by the devastating Category 4 Hurricane Ida, some restaurants have made the heart-rending decision to close permanently. Ian McNulty talks to the owners of the Donut Hole in LaPlace, Cavan in New Orleans and Porch & Patio in Kenner. 2. Root beer floats? Ida kicked over the iconic root beer mug outside the LaPlace Frostop, but inside the neon-lined diner, third-generation owner Terry Toler is back serving burgers and fries as repairs commence. “To lose the mug but keep the restaurant, I’ll take that any day considering what we all went through here,” Toler says. Read about it here. 3. Wait! There's more. Central Grocery, 115-year-old muffuletta mecca in the French Quarter, is mopping up after the wall of a neighboring building crashed onto its roof during Ida. Chef Matthew Taylor has kicked Second Harvest Food Bank into overdrive for hurricane relief. A former McDonald's drive-thru in New Orleans East became a community self-help hub, handing out food and encouragement to all comers. And two Des Allemands landmarks vow the bloody marys will be back. 4. Griddle me this! Food writer Judy Walker evacuated to Arkansas, where relatives comforted her with smash burgers sizzling from an outdoor griddle. They even shared the recipe. 5. Freeze frame. One person drove for hours to rescue venison and fish from a freezer as power outages set in after Hurricane Ida. Others could only mourn what they lost: gallons of handpicked blueberries, boudin, even sourdough starter. Share what you'll miss the most with the Where NOLA Eats Facebook community. That's it for the food newsletter, but in New Orleans the food news never stops. For more, visit us at NOLA.com. Have a great weekend, and thanks for reading. --AS If you love Louisiana and are looking for a way to help the recovery, we've compiled this list of nonprofits on the ground. Are you a NOLA.com subscriber? If you are, thanks so much. But if you’re not, we’ve got a great offer for you. Check it out! | 