Nearly a month after their closure, restaurateurs will finally be able to take advantage of the lucrative Super Bowl and Valentine’s Day days, since Quebec has given the green light for a resumption of activities on January 31. Some owners whose establishments are in the city center are worried about profitability, however, and others, mentally exhausted by the waltz of openings and closings of the last two years, hope that this time will be the right one.
Posted at 5:37 p.m.
Bars will have to wait before resuming serving drinks to their customers. The government has not given a date for this. Restaurants will be able to open at 50% capacity and must have tables made up of four people or two family bubbles.
“We are happy, but we hope that it will not close as it has been the case over the past two years. The restaurant industry is unstable right now,” said Elisabeth Benny, vice-president of marketing and public relations at Benny & Co., shortly after the announcement by Quebec Premier François Legault. Tuesday.
The family business, which specializes in roast chicken, has 70 restaurants across Ontario and across Quebec, including two in downtown Montreal. Benny & Co. juggled several hours before deciding whether to open these last two establishments as of January 31.
“It is certain that in the city center, there is no one at the moment, recalls Mme Bennie. The towers are empty. It’s a pretty risky bet to reopen. We focused on downtown. It had just started to pick up again in late November, early December, and they shut everything down. In the end, the family still decided to start receiving customers in the dining room downtown on February 2.
Dominic Bujold, owner of restaurants Lov, Sushi Bloom and establishments Pizzeria No 900, is also aware that the city center is not teeming with activity these days. “It is a concern that has already been there for a year, he admits. We try to juggle that. I’m not saying that schedules are going to be at full capacity everywhere. »
The return of workers to the city center will apparently not happen immediately. In a press briefing, Mr. Legault affirmed that “for the moment, teleworking is here to stay”.
The future of catering
In Lanaudière, Matthieu Bonneau, owner of the bistro Le Coup Montée, which has an establishment in Repentigny and one in L’Assomption, was happy with the announcement, but did not hide that the morale of the troops was at its lowest. “It’s at the level of mental health that it’s more difficult: close, open, close, open. I see cooks in pretty bad shape,” he confides in a tired voice.
“It hurts morale. It’s scary. We are putting all our energies into reopening and we hope that the government will not close us again, ”adds Martin Ore, chef and owner of the Mochica restaurant, rue Saint-Denis.
PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, THE PRESS
Martin Ore, chef and owner of the Mochica restaurant
In the context, both the owners and the Association Restauration Québec (ARQ) are asking questions about the future of catering. ” The solution [c’est toujours] to close SMEs because the health system does not provide, deplores Matthieu Bonneau. If this is the future… we will have to align ourselves with long-term solutions. »
Catering has always been a passion. There, it is the financial pressure which anguishes me. There’s nothing worse when you have a business, you just think about it and you don’t think about having fun anymore.
Matthieu Bonneau, owner of the bistro Le Coup Monté
“We will have to think in the medium term to no longer make economic sectors dependent on hospital capacity, argues Martin Vézina, director of public and governmental affairs for the ARQ. Our operators are tired. They can’t yet think they’re going to get shut down every time a variant appears. There will be some who will choose to close. »
Robert Laporte, professor of management at the Institut de tourisme et d’hôtellerie du Québec (ITHQ), believes that restaurateurs will literally have to review their business model and will no longer be able to operate in the same way as before the pandemic. “It will be difficult for restaurateurs to have large brigades like we had in pre-COVID times. That’s ancient history. »
And since they will be working with reduced teams, they will be forced to review the menu. “Offer fewer choices, but choices that are profitable and popular. »
Despite everything, the restaurateurs interviewed said they were happy to open and to have time to prepare to welcome customers on Valentine’s Day. “Valentine’s Day is the second busiest day in Quebec restaurants,” says Martin Vézina. You shouldn’t miss the boat. »
On the bar side, however, Renaud Poulin, president of the Corporation of Bar, Brewery and Tavern Owners of Quebec, which represents 1,127 establishments, did not hide his disappointment. “We would have liked to be open for the Super Bowl. Mr. Poulin would have liked the government to give him at least a reopening date.