Harold And Belles Restaurant

Essence, March 1999

Harold and Belle's: Dining in Style

A family business expands: Pale pink linen graces the tables at this 30-year-old bastion of creole cuisine in South Central Los Angeles' Crenshaw district. Denise Legaux, 48, and her husband, Harold, 49, took over the family business in 1982 after his father died, and took in another couple, Al Honoré, 53, and his wife, Susan, 52, as minority partners. Together they transformed a neighborhood bar with food into an elegant dining space with a bar. The 140-seat restaurant draws 75 percent of its customers from the community and surrounding areas. The menu features gumbo, jambalaya, and red beans and rice; dinner entrées range in price from $14 to $29.

Keep your customers on your radar. Harold is the executive chef; Al, the second in command in the kitchen of 25 employees. "You have to consider your customers' likes, dislikes and what they can afford," says Denise, who is the enterprise's chief financial officer and beverage manager. (Susan manages the dining room and wait staff.) "You could outprice yourself so that your neighbors can't come, which we try not to do," Denise explains. For example, until 4 p.m. the restaurant offers a lunch menu that's from $9 to $16 - less expensive than dinner. It also offers complete-meal prices rather than the more expensive à la carte.

Confront and solve the problems. Through the restaurant wasn't damaged, the 1992 Los Angeles uprising that followed the Rodney King beating incident happened as close as six blocks away. The image of the whole neighborhood suffered as did its economy. Customers from outside the neighborhood were afraid to venture in, and some local customers stopped coming because they had lost their jobs when their employers' businesses were destroyed. The restaurant's sales dropped 25 to 30 percent, which meant whittling the staff down to a skeleton crew. "We had to work to bring the image back to where it should be," says Denise. They ran newspaper ads assuring customers that they were still there serving fine food. They also made the space available for local churches' special events and functions. Now, Sundays -when many folks come to the restaurant after church - continue to be one of their strongest days.

Nurture your roots. "Another location might afford us fewer problems and a larger and far more diverse clientele," says Denise. "But we've been here such a long time, we're kind of rooted here." And there's a big advantage to being in a predominantly Black neighborhood that was once a hub for transplanted African-Americans from New Orleans: "We're catering to customers who are familiar with our food," Denise says. "We didn't have to educate them to what we do." After all, word-of-mouth from those who know is the best advertising.

Essence, March 1999 Harold and Belle's: Dining in Style A family business expands: Pale pink linen graces the tables at this 30-year-old bastion of creole cuisine in South Central Los Angeles' Crenshaw district. Denise Legaux, 48, and her husband, Harold, 49, took over the family business in 1982 after his father died, and took in another couple, Al Honoré, 53, and his wife, Susan, 52, as minority partners. Together they transformed a neighborhood bar with food into an elegant dining space with a bar. The 140-seat restaurant draws 75 percent of its customers from the community and surrounding areas. The menu features gumbo, jambalaya, and red beans and rice; dinner entrées range in price from $14 to $29. Keep your customers on your radar. Harold is the executive chef; Al, the second in command in the kitchen of 25 employees. "You have to consider your customers' likes, dislikes and what they can afford," says Denise, who is the enterprise's chief financial officer and beverage manager. (Susan manages the dining room and wait staff.) "You could outprice yourself so that your neighbors can't come, which we try not to do," Denise explains. For example, until 4 p.m. the restaurant offers a lunch menu that's from $9 to $16 - less expensive than dinner. It also offers complete-meal prices rather than the more expensive à la carte. Confront and solve the problems. Through the restaurant wasn't damaged, the 1992 Los Angeles uprising that followed the Rodney King beating incident happened as close as six blocks away. The image of the whole neighborhood suffered as did its economy. Customers from outside the neighborhood were afraid to venture in, and some local customers stopped coming because they had lost their jobs when their employers' businesses were destroyed. The restaurant's sales dropped 25 to 30 percent, which meant whittling the staff down to a skeleton crew. "We had to work to bring the image back to where it should be," says Denise. They ran newspaper ads assuring customers that they were still there serving fine food. They also made the space available for local churches' special events and functions. Now, Sundays -when many folks come to the restaurant after church - continue to be one of their strongest days. Nurture your roots. "Another location might afford us fewer problems and a larger and far more diverse clientele," says Denise. "But we've been here such a long time, we're kind of rooted here." And there's a big advantage to being in a predominantly Black neighborhood that was once a hub for transplanted African-Americans from New Orleans: "We're catering to customers who are familiar with our food," Denise says. "We didn't have to educate them to what we do." After all, word-of-mouth from those who know is the best advertising.