World Trade Centre restaurant workers plan new venture

About 40 surviving workers from the Windows on the World restaurant atop the World Trade Centre are planning to open a new restaurant, with windows facing lower Manhattan.

"It's going to be a family again, coming together," says Fekkak Mamdouh, a head waiter from Casablanca, Morocco.

Seventy-three Windows workers died on September 11, 2001. The rest lost their jobs, and in a slow economy, only about half have found employment since then.

Now, 43 of about 300 surviving workers have formed a co-operative for their culinary venture, with each owning part of the high-end restaurant. They're negotiating for a historic building in a trendy lower Manhattan neighbourhood called TriBeCa, just north of ground zero.

With the possible name Windows on TriBeCa, it is to open next northern spring. The menu will likely include familiar American fare like steak and fries, plus "the flavours of our countries, the specialties", says Mamdouh.

Windows on the World is a tough act to follow. Located on the 106th floor and boasting one of the nation's finest wine cellars, it was a prime venue for celebrations such as weddings, engagements and graduations.