A tiny mom-and-pop New Orleans restaurant plans to close next year after incurring thousands of dollars in city fines. Its fight over the issue has drawn attention to a license and fine process that routinely snares much larger names in the local hospitality sector and has city leaders vowing change.

Owners of Plume Algiers , an Indian restaurant on Teche Street in the Algiers neighborhood, have been seeking relief for fines incurred for selling alcohol for two years after the restaurant’s city-issued liquor license lapsed.

This week, they brought the issue to the New Orleans City Council, where council members including Mayor-elect Helena Moreno said they want to reform the city process that landed Plume Algiers here.

For now, though, facing a $3,600 fine assessed by the New Orl

See Full Page