Chez Natchez takes spot held by Rose of Broadway

In Cape Girardeau, Kathy Broussard's last name is synonymous with gumbo, crawfish and jambalaya.

That's because 20 years ago, she and her ex-husband started Broussard's, the restaurant that today is a local Cajun food institution that converts on some nights into an escape for blues and rock 'n' roll lovers.

But the Broussards split up, sold the restaurant and Kathy headed off to Knoxville, where's she's been for the past 14 years.

She's back. And she now plans to open a new restaurant on Broadway that -- while not explicitly Cajun -- Broussard promises will have a "strong Cajun and Creole influence from the Deep South."

The new restaurant, to be called Chez Natchez, will be at 707 Broadway, where Rose of Broadway is now. Rose of Broadway closed its doors for good Sunday. Broussard said Chez Natchez will open Sept. 7. Her business partner is Barbara Boone, her best friend who also used to work at Broussard's.

Broussard said she's opening the new restaurant really because of popular demand.

"Everybody says 'I miss your cooking,'" she said. "It seems they want me to get back in the business. I was feeling like 'What am I going to do with the rest of my life?' Coming back home and doing this is me getting back to my roots."

Some of the dishes on the rotating menu will be soups and gumbo, sandwiches and items like shrimp Creole, crawfish etouffee and catfish BLTs.

She said certain items will be on the menu at all times and others will be constants. The menu will be much smaller than Broussard's, she said.

"People won't get burnt out by it," she said. "We're trying to get a much wider variety."

The name of the restaurant, by the way, came from Natchez, Miss., where Broussard grew up.

"That's where I learned to cook," she said.

* Hi-Tech Communications opens Cape office: Almost 10 years after Jim Woods started Hi-Tech Communications in Sikeston, he's strengthening his position in the Cape Girardeau market.

Woods has opened a sales office at 623 S. Silver Springs Road. His first director of sales will be familiar to many of you -- Viney Mosley, who left Montgomery Bank earlier this year.

She's also Jim's mother.

"I was looking for a little more flexibility with my schedule," Mosley said. "I'm still in the service industry and still take care of the same sort of people."

Hi-Tech provides equipment and service in telecommunications with a 150-mile radius of Cape Girardeau. The company provides service such as telephone systems, fiberoptics and computer networking to an impressive list of area customers, including city governments, hospitals, schools, manufacturers, retail businesses, banks and residential homes.

* White Castle to open this week: Break out the Pepto, the belly bombers are coming.

George Hale, the company's regional director of restaurants in St. Louis, said the Cape Girardeau White Castle will open no later than Thursday and maybe as early as Tuesday.

"We're expecting a huge opening," Hale said.

All that remained to do last week is some electrical work, some cosmetic last minute touches and some painting.

"I think it's going to turn out great," he said. "We're looking forward to it."

* Cup 'n' cork update: The new downtown Cape Girardeau wine and coffee bar on Main Street is nearing completion, according to owner Kim Robinson. The building renovation project should be finished in a few weeks, and Robinson said she hopes to get the business open within the first two or three weeks of September.

Some furniture and lighting issues have come up, but nothing serious.

The interior of the building looks fantastic, considering how much work needed to be done.

* Muddy morale: How's your morale at work? Not so good, huh?

An annual "Employee Review" survey of more than 3,200 workers suggests it's down from a year ago. Less than half, 40 percent, called employee morale "good" or "excellent," down 4 percentage points from 2004, according to the poll by Randstad North America, the Atlanta-based subsidiary of Randstad Holding NV, the Dutch temporary staffing services company.

Even more striking, the number of employers who said morale was good or excellent fell from 70 percent to 55 percent from 2004 to 2005.

Part of the answer to that might be in the issue of loyalty: Nearly 60 percent of employees say they're loyal to their companies, but only 26 percent felt the company was loyal to them -- down from 41 percent in the previous two years.

The data are from 1,772 employees and 1,511 employers who participated in the online survey in early June.

Me? I love my job. Love it. In all ways.

Without exception.

Really.

Scott Moyers is the business editor for the Southeast Missourian. Send comments, business news, information or questions to Biz Buzz, 301 Broadway, Cape Girardeau, Mo., 63702-0699, call 335-6611, extension 137 or e-mail smoyers@semissourian.com.