赛柯•卢克（图中）在纽约市“斑斓”餐馆培训两名学员。他们之所以学习餐馆技艺是为了拓宽求职机会。

该餐馆的创办者为原世贸大厦“世界之窗”餐馆的幸存员工，2001年9月11日“世界之窗”在恐怖主义袭击事件中随世贸大厦一同被摧毁。后来餐馆的幸存员工决定重整旗鼓，他们以业主的形式联手成立了一家新餐馆，其世界风味体现了餐馆新员工的多元背景。餐馆取名为“斑斓”（Colors），于2006年在拉斐逸街（Lafayette Street） 417号开张营业。

据“斑斓”餐馆的网站介绍，餐馆力求推出“随季节而变化的脍炙人口的新风味”。餐馆执行总裁和财政主管赛柯·西比（Sekou Siby）来自科特迪瓦。他说，餐馆员工来自墨西哥、菲律宾、圭亚那及美国。他表示，全球风味仍是该餐馆的经营之道。

西比说，“9.11”恐怖主义袭击已过去十年，“斑斓”餐馆仍坚持合作经营的模式，积极为员工提供良好的工作环境并确保职业的流动性。

纽约“斑斓”餐馆大堂的墙上贴满了地图，与餐馆季节性菜谱上浓厚的全球特色相呼应。

纽约餐馆机会中心为一家非营利组织，成立于2002年4月，其宗旨是为“9.11”悲剧之后失业的世贸大厦餐馆工作人员提供支持。该组织逐渐获得发展，还倡导改善全纽约城餐馆员工的工作环境，并为那些寻找餐饮业工作机会的人员提供培训。

西比除了处理餐馆的日常工作之外，还担任该组织的共同主任。他说，“斑斓”餐馆在学员培训结束后会雇用一些学员，另一些学员则会被其他餐馆雇用。

 “斑斓” 餐馆管理人员因其走过的历程和帮助他人的使命而感到自豪，但他们从未忘记餐馆主要的吸引力，即烹饪技艺。西比说：“关键还得靠优良的服务和美味的佳肴。人们可能喜欢餐馆的模式，但如果顾客对服务和烹饪不满意的话，他们就不会再来了。”

美国国务院国际信息局 http://iipdigital.usembassy.gov/iipdigital-mgck/index.html

Helping Others: A Restaurant’s Post-September 11 Legacy

By Lauren Monsen | Staff Writer | 03 August 2011

Instructor Sekou Luke, center, trains two students at New York City's Colors restaurant. The students are learning restaurant-related skills to improve their job prospects.

Washington — A New York restaurant known for its sophisticated mix of international dishes has an unusual history, one that inspires it to take care of its customers and its workers.

The restaurant was founded by surviving employees of the Windows on the World restaurant, which was located in the World Trade Center and destroyed by the attacks of September 11, 2001. Determined to carry on, surviving restaurant staffers banded together as business owners to create a new restaurant whose global cuisine reflects its diverse workforce. Called Colors, the restaurant opened in 2006 at 417 Lafayette Street.

According to Colors’ website, the restaurant strives to introduce “exciting new flavors that change with the seasons.” Sekou Siby, the restaurant’s financial and chief operating officer, who is from Côte d’Ivoire, said the restaurant is staffed by workers from Mexico, the Philippines, Guyana and the United States. “Global flavor” remains the restaurant’s guiding philosophy, he said.

Ten years after the September 11 attacks, Colors “is still run as a cooperative” dedicated to offering good working conditions and career mobility for its staffers, Siby said.

Restaurant Opportunities Center of New York, a nonprofit group, was founded in April 2002 to support restaurant workers displaced from the World Trade Center as a result of the September 11 tragedy. It has expanded to advocate for improved working conditions for restaurant workers citywide and to train those seeking employment in restaurants.

Siby, who serves as co-director of the nonprofit group while also handling his responsibilities at the restaurant, said that some trainees are hired by Colors when they complete their training, while others find jobs at other restaurants.

While taking pride in their history and their mission to help others, Colors staffers never lose sight of the restaurant’s primary attraction: its cuisine. “At the end of the day, it’s about great service and great food,” Siby said. “People may like the concept [of the restaurant], but if the dining experience is not satisfactory, people will not come back.”