Steaks, not sympathy

It was called Windows on the World, and it was one of America's most prestigious restaurants. Located on the 106th floor of Tower One of New York's World Trade Centre, it offered high-quality dining at high altitude. The restaurant's name may have slightly overstated the extent of the view, but on a clear day it was possible to see across much of New York, a city that is home to people of just about every nation and every ethnic variation.

On the wall of Colors, a new and decidedly more modest restaurant a few blocks away from what is now known as Ground Zero, a simple black plaque serves as a permanent memorial to the Windows staff who were on duty the morning of 11 September 2001. Every person who was working that morning - more than 70 in total - died alongside their customers. A quick scan of the plaque gives little away: there are no ages, no job titles, no indication of where they stood in the restaurant hierarchy. On closer inspection, the names do, however, reveal one thing - that the restaurant was not only a window on the world but also a microcosm of it. There are Anglo Saxon-sounding names such as Stephen Adams and John E Puckett, and also those of Sophia Buruwa Addo Ameyaw and Antonio J Alvarez. Alongside these, Yang-Der Lee, Orasri Liangthanasarn and Mohammed Jawara.

Significantly, the plaque is positioned beyond those areas normally frequented by customers. But then, it is not meant for them. Colors is both owned and staffed by 27 people who worked alongside those who perished in Windows on the World but were not on duty when the towers were hit, together with 23 others who worked in the other food and drink outlets on the now-notorious site.

When Colors opened in January, it became America's first restaurant co-operative. Every member of staff - from the person who welcomes you to the person who washes your plates - has a financial interest in ensuring your visit is enjoyable.

It would be easy to visit Colors and not know the story behind it - and that's just the way those working there like it. "Our vision has been to create a high-end place, one that competes with the quality standards of Windows on the World," says Fekkak Mamdouh, who was a Windows waiter. "What we are not is a Twin Towers visitor attraction.

"The decision to not have any visible reference to the Twin Towers was a conscious one," he continues. "From the start, we knew that we didn't want people to come to Colors thinking they were visiting a memorial. That's why the plaque isn't on show in a public area. People only come once to visit a memorial. We want customers to come back because they enjoyed themselves. We don't want people to visit Colors because they feel sorry for us."

Situated at Lafayette Street on the edge of Greenwich Village, the restaurant is named to reflect the ethnic diversity of those involved. Similarly, the food is modern American with a twist of the exotic. Alongside such restaurant staples as seared scallops and New York strip steak are more exotic dishes such as goat curry with Peruvian lentil-rice cakes or roasted seitan, apricot and yellow split-pea chutney served with parsnip, soybean and jicana salad; starters cost around $15 (about £8) and mains are around $30 (£16). Each month, they add special dishes that reflect the variety of backgrounds of the Colors team. (omega)

By becoming restaurateurs, Colors' founders are living the American dream. But their decision was borne out of pragmatism as much as anything else: the staff who were not on the early shift escaped with their lives, but lost their jobs. They attempted to get on with their lives, but this proved difficult. Like the staff of many New York restaurants, the majority of the team which now operates Colors are first-generation immigrants who felt the brunt of the xenophobia that followed the attack.

"Opportunities really dried up in the immediate aftermath of 9/11," Mamdouh, who is Muslim, explains. "A few were getting jobs, but not very good jobs. They tended to be casual and poorly paid. As time went on, things didn't get significantly better."

Tomorrow, dignitaries, survivors and those who lost friends and loved ones will gather at Ground Zero to remember the events that unfolded five years ago and to mourn the dead. Among their numbers will be few, if any, former Windows employees. "We don't really feel a part of the main memorial service," Mamdouh admits. "Instead, we mark the date by gathering down by the Hudson River and laying a wreath in the water."

For Mamdouh, the experience gained during the launch of Colors has given him a taste for championing the restaurant world's underdogs. He is now the executive director of Roc-NY, an organisation that is using the example of Colors to set up other restaurant co-operatives across the US. Colors, and any ventures that may follow, may well become a much more fitting and poignant legacy to the victims of 9/11 than any plaque or memorial.

Colors, 417 Lafayette Street, East Village, New York, tel: 001 212 777 8443

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