Spirit Of New Orleans: Burgers

While things are far from normal in New Orleans, there are some signs of progress.

On Monday, Algiers became the first neighborhood in the hurricane-battered city to officially reopen. And business owners are being let back into some historic areas, such as the French Quarter, to begin cleaning up.

CBS News correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi visited the French Quarter, where she met Scott Boswell, who had just reopened his restaurant, Stella's.

"It's been totally insane," he says.

There's no electricity, so his French-trained chef grills burgers out back. Because food is hard to come by, pickles and potato chips are the only side orders.

And, since most of his staff can't get through checkpoints into the city, his mother is pitching in, taking orders from customers. She is one of four people feeding 300 every day, Alfonsi says.

"I'm wearing thin!" Pat Boswell says. "Look at me. I used to be cute!"

The only thing the restaurant isn't short on right now is heart, Alfonsi says.

"All these people are working for free now," Scott Boswell says. "We don't even know where the paychecks are coming from."

Just getting supplies is a lesson in determination.

"We have some diesel (fuel) coming," he says, "but … I gotta find more."

Diplomacy comes in handy. Boswell bartered with the National Guard, trading cheeseburgers for diesel for his generator.

Power was supposedly being restored but, says Pat Boswell, it might not matter: "Every day the word gets out, it gets bigger."

Patrons are even dancing in the darkened eatery at night.

And long after the lights come back on, Stella's might be remembered for more than the place that helped feed New Orleans' hungry souls. It helped a city get back on its feet.