I'm not leaving. The people who live here and love it have kind of a carnival-like quality to them. Nothing much bothers us. If I left the Quarter, I'd only get depressed.

The Quarter is going to be fine. The entire city is going to be a much better place. People have been living in poverty for generations. They don't know any better. They got into a rut, like a bad marriage, and needed to have a light shined on it. ... Truly, I think this is going to be a blessing for some of them.

Change is good. They will find there is a better world elsewhere, like in Houston or Atlanta.

I am not leaving. I've fed the police and the military, I cooked 800 steaks for them.

Katrina is the best thing to ever happen to this city.

She told me they were going to Brazil for carnival, ... I said, 'Sure, I'd love to go.'