The first completely unconfined holiday season is a blessing — and a headache — for many restaurateurs in Quebec. They will finally be able to concretize their New Year’s Eve, which fell into the water twice.
“We’ve been planning it for two years, doing the marketing, the menu, the agreements, the purchases of dishes,” says Sandra Forcier, co-owner of the Ratafia wine bar, in Little Italy. That’s a lot of hours. It’s the most important night of the year, it has to be better than the rest of the time. Two years of having to cancel, it was debilitating. »
As 2021 drew to a close, the provincial government’s last-minute decision forced many restaurants to throw away large amounts of food. But this time, it seems that the big party will take place. The M teamme Forcier therefore launches feverishly into the final sprint for the evening.
December was also a balm on pandemic wounds, thanks to a succession of corporate groups, dinners with friends and impromptu happy hours.
“It even exceeded the traffic of December 2019 in the majority of our restaurants, adds Francine Brûlé, the president of the chain Les enfants terribles, which has seven branches. We feel that people missed it. They are festive and cheerful. »
The holiday season is a good time to end the year in style, says Hugues Philippin, chairman of the board of directors of the Association Restauration Québec (ARQ). However, a few problems are slowing the momentum, starting with the labor shortage.
Mme Brûlé is disappointed that some of its establishments must remain closed for New Year’s Eve due to a lack of staff. For his part, the owner of the Brossard restaurant Le Celebrities regrets having to limit the number of guests for the same reason. His party New Year’s Day has been sold out for a month.
“The challenge is to make people understand that we can’t take more, even if they are regulars”, launched, sorry, Pierre Ménard, who plans to go celebrate with his customers as soon as he can get out of the kitchen.
Noticeable absences
Two epidemics also came to “break the party in the past month. First, there is that of the many respiratory viruses that have circulated among the members of the work teams. “We had a lot of sick people in November and December and, each time, it was complicated to replace people. It’s exhausting for the team in place, who have to work harder,” says Pierre-Vincent Lemieux, co-owner of the Théophile wine bar, located in Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville.
Then there was the phenomenon of no show », that is to say the groups who fail to show up for their reservation, without warning. Several restaurateurs have seen an upsurge in this destructive practice.
” It’s a catastrophe. On a Saturday when we turned away hundreds of people, when we’re packed, we brought in our staff accordingly, we prepared food, we have a group of 40 people who didn’t show up, a group of 28 who showed up at 9 or 10 and a group of 20 who showed up, but half of the members were not eating, ”protests Mme Burnt.
In addition, the ARQ is concerned about the fate of restaurants after the “super nice holiday season”, especially those who have not managed to adapt to “the new reality where prices are not the same at all “. The increase in the cost of food and wages means that Hugues Philippin, who owns the pizzeria Chic Aussi, in Quebec, had to adapt his work and supply methods, his opening hours and his menu. .
“Will sales fall again in February and March? asks Mr. Filipino. The number of restaurants in Quebec has already decreased significantly, and it is believed that the closures [définitives] are not finished. »
The good income from the holiday season will allow Théophile’s team to leave with peace of mind for two weeks off in January. A vacation that Pierre-Vincent Lemieux considers well deserved, despite the pleasure he and his employees have in receiving customers. “We put our tongues out on the ground,” he admits.