The Casualty

Eric Konigsberg's story: The city Health Department has closed 297 restaurants since the week ending Feb. 24. That was when a scene of rats teeming around a Taco Bell/KFC in Greenwich Village was captured on a widely disseminated videotape, a sight that triggered a tough new round of health department inspections. A vast majority of the restaurants have been reinspected and reopened.



But Mr. Rachou cannot bring himself to reopen the brasserie just yet. Of all the shuttered restaurants, this may be the one with the greatest reputation for the seriousness of its food and the profile of its chef.



While chefs at other restaurants said the brasserie's code violations were fairly routine,…