Catering | La Cage ventures into French territory

La Cage arrives in France. Its classic chicken wings and burgers will be served in June in Bordeaux in a first branch outside Quebec. The Quebec sports brasserie will not stop there, since other restaurants will appear in the French landscape and even as far as Belgium.

The smell of buttered popcorn, the giant screens showing National Hockey League games and the beer offer: La Cage, the French version, will be identical in all respects to its Quebec cousin, assured its president, Jean Bédard. , in an interview with The Press in one of its restaurants, located in Brossard.

La Cage – now part of the Grandio group of restaurateurs – will land in France thanks to a partnership with Boulangerie Ange. The announcement will be made on Thursday.

Why did the big boss decide to export his sports brasserie concept to France when, by his own admission, he had always been cautious when it came to the development of La Cage outside the Quebec?

“Everyone was asking me, why don’t you go to Florida? Why don’t you go to Toronto? I’ve always thought we’re more European than North American when it comes to food. And there’s also the growing number of French employees at La Cage who have often asked their bosses why the chain isn’t moving to their home country.

Several years ago, the company even signed an agreement to open a Cage in Nantes, which, at the request of the French partners, would have been called My cabin in Canada, says Jean Bédard with a smile in his voice. . The project was finally aborted, La Cage was “not ready”, he maintains.

“The right partner”

But this time it is, he says. “It took the right partner in the right time. La Cage will make its debut in France thanks to a partnership concluded between the Quebec company and Boulangerie Ange, a French network which has 230 establishments in France and which has been established in Quebec for a few years.

When he entered a Cage – Brasserie sportive for the first time with his daughter, François Bultel, co-founder and president of Boulangerie Ange, literally fell in love. “It does not exist in France, this concept,” said Mr. Bultel, installed on a bench in La Cage, alongside Mr. Bédard.

The two later met through a mutual friend. One thing leading to another, they decided to work together. The restaurant in Bordeaux, where they found a franchisee, was due to open in September 2020. The pandemic delayed the project. The first French Cage will finally open in June with franchisee Olivier Brouzet, a former professional rugby player, at the helm. The 7000 ft facility^⁠2a bit like what we find in Quebec, will need about fifty employees.

In addition, teams from La Cage have crossed the Atlantic on several occasions to carry out tests and tastings. “We want to do exactly the same, insists François Bultel. We want a piece of Quebec. The blitz burger – one of the signature dishes – must taste the same. Reproducing the same menu was no small task, however. “The first time I tasted the wings, I told my chef: it doesn’t work at all,” says Jean Bédard, laughing.

On the giant screens, we will obviously broadcast very popular sports matches in Bordeaux such as rugby and soccer, explains Olivier Brouzet. But, just to respect the concept, French customers who come to have a beer and eat fries will also be able to see games of the National Hockey League or even basketball.

“It’s true that seeing American sports on these screens will be very unique,” said Mr. Brouzet. It does not exist in France, ”he repeats in turn.

After the opening of Bordeaux, others could be announced in France and even in Belgium. “That’s the idea,” says Mr. Bultel, who will manage the chain’s expansion in Europe. We start with where it speaks French. »