Correct me if i’m wrong, but isn’t Randy Fertel the man who owns Ruth Chris Steakhouse Inc. and decided to move his company and abandon New Orleans two weeks after the flood of the federal levees?

I believe the sins in question fall on the corporate interests who bought the restaurant from Ruth Fertel. Someone else please correct me if I’m wrong, but as far as I know, neither Randy Fertel nor his foundation had anything to do with the decision to move Ruth’s Chris out of the city after Katrina.

Noah, you are absolutely correct. The late great Ruth Fertel, whom I knew and loved, would NEVER have moved her headquarters out of New Orleans. Nor would Randy Fertel, were he at the helm of the restaurant. In fact, she bought an old shotgun home next to her flagship “store” at Orleans and Broad and converted it into her residence — she was that committed to the city and to the neighborhood. Sincer her death in 2002, her son Randy has guided the foundation that bears her name, using the funds to help rebuild the city by donating to many worthy causes. Near the end of her life, Ruth endowed the Ruth U. Fertel Culinary Arts Building at the John Folse Culinary Institute on the campus of Nicholls State University in Thibodaux, La. That reflected her love of Louisiana and its people. I consider myself blessed to have been among the thousands touched by Ruth during her lifetime. She was one of the most generous people I have ever known.

The people who decided to move the Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse corporate headquarters to Florida after Katrina are the corporate owners of the restaurant. Ruth sold her interests in the business before her death at age 75 and used the proceeds to set up several charitable foundations. She would never have abandoned the city, and Randy’s current activities on behalf of the family and the foundation reflect Ruth’s love for New Orleans.

Thank you, Clancy, for setting the record straight.

Randy Fertel