Jacques Garnett was my waiter at Strings at Tuesday lunch – a long way from his former job at Embers Steak House on Bourbon Street in New Orleans.
Garnett was evacuated from N.O. on the Friday after Katrina hit, bused to the Astrodome in Houston. He heard an announcement asking for people who wanted to fly to Denver – and he lined up.
“I was lucky I even heard it,” he says. “Denver sounded like a good place, and I had to get out of Houston. John Butler looked me in the eye and said, ‘We’re going to take real good care of you.”‘
Butler, the husband of Channel 4’s Molly Hughes, was at the Astrodome trying to get some people out to Denver. He had gone down there with Chad Ladov and Frontier Airlines’ Andrew Hudson because, he said, he couldn’t watch it anymore.
Through the help of Jim White at Volunteers of America, Butler, Ladov, Dorothy Bryan, Strings boss Noel Cunningham and many others, Garnett got settled in a room at the Adam’s Mark Hotel and has a job waiting tables at Strings. And it looks like Denver is home – for good. His mom and grandfather soon will be joining him here.
“They’ll rebuild it, but it won’t be the New Orleans that I know,” Garnett says. “I wish the people the best, but I’ll be in Denver.”
Check out what some Denverites are doing for more than 30 survivors at rockymountainrelief.org.
Going once …
Auction items at Saturday night’s Children’s Hospital Gala are pretty swank. A mink coat, a Caribbean cruise, a $55,000 Volvo – and a Woman’s All Time Fashion Fantasy Package.
It’s the Fash Pack that’ll get people excited. You get a pair of shoes each month – from the likes of Manolo Blahnik, Ferragamo, Giuseppe Zanotti. And you get a new pair of sunglasses each month from Dolce & Gabbana, Gucci, et al. All from Neiman Marcus. Woo-hoo.
Compassion
Fashion with Compassion is tonight’s finale of the summer’s Riverfront Park Wine & Fashion Series. And tonight’s parade benefits Katrina victims.
Threads come from tony The Skye boutique. Your hosts include Sarah Magness, Holly Kylberg, Chris Frampton, Denise Snyder, Peter Klann, Tobie Orr and Kevin Joseph. It all starts at 4 p.m.; tix start at $25.
City spirit
The summer’s last gallery walk through Cherry Creek North starts 6 p.m. Friday at Bob’s Steak & Chop House, 121 Clayton St., where you buy your tix and get free valet parking and a glass of vino … Robusto Room, a wine and cigar bar, is opening in Park Meadows this fall … Golf’s Masters champ Craig Stadler and baseballer Goose Gossage played golf Wednesday at Grand Elk Ranch & Club to raise money for the Fraser River Project … Sinatra singer now at Deja Vu on Thursday and Friday nights, tunes from Brazil on Wednesday nights … The popular La Cocina restaurant in Aspen is shutting down Saturday after 30-plus years in the biz. Owners Nick and Sarah Lebby are hanging up the tortilla … Rocky Mountain Rollergirls duke it out in a grudge match 7-9 p.m. Saturday at Bladium Sports Club … Sez who: “Money is always there, but the pockets change.” Gertrude Stein
Bill Husted’s column appears Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. Husted also appears on Fox 31 News. You can reach him at 303-820-1486 or at bhusted@denverpost.com.
