For most of its 6-1/2 year existence, Mara's Homemade, a tiny restaurant on Manhattan's Lower East Side, has stood as a 750-square-foot monument to Louisiana culture. Only recently have the restaurant's owners felt compelled to defend it.

"People are hesitant to eat anything," said Mara Levi, who runs the New Orleans-style restaurant with her husband David. "I've already had two people today ask, 'Is the crawfish safe to eat?' I have to tell them we wouldn't have it if we didn't think they should eat it."

Levi started fielding such questions soon after the Deepwater Horizon oil platform exploded two months ago today, unleashing a geyser of oil that continues to pour into the Gulf of Mexico.
Mara's allegiance to the state that has played host to so much of the destruction is patently obvious: Its menu is filled with dishes featuring Louisiana seafood, from oysters Rockefeller and boiled crawfish to crab cakes and blackened redfish, and framed posters heralding the glories of the Saints, Jazzfest and Louisiana State University athletics hang from its Mardi Gras-colored walls.