LAS TERRENAS | More and more Quebecers are choosing to settle in the French village of Las Terrenas, located on the Samana peninsula, where they shop and order from restaurants in the language of Molière.
Illustration Journal de Montréal
This destination, previously considered “out of the loop”, has developed significantly over the last two years, say Quebec entrepreneurs who are based there.
“Here, we speak in French 75% of the time,” says Nathalie Tremblay, manager of a charming small hotel, the Takuma, in Las Terrenas, located in the northeast of the Dominican Republic.
The one who spends a few months a year there to manage the establishment says she meets many more Quebecers than last year.
“Someone who doesn’t speak Spanish can get by in French in Las Terrenas without any problem, that’s a big point,” she says.
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Quebecers under the spell
Many French, Belgians and Swiss live in winter in this former fishing village, where people mainly travel on motorbikes and mountain bikes. There is a French bakery, a butcher, as well as other small businesses, run by Europeans and more recently, Quebecers.
Prized for its “wild” beaches and its “bohemian” pace of life, Las Terrenas is gaining popularity among Quebecers.
Elisa Cloutier
The owner of the village bakery, originally from Grenoble in France, says she is increasingly serving her cousins from Quebec. “They are always very happy to be served in French and happy to be able to buy croissants or other fresh pastries of the day,” she says.
With its numerous wild beaches, its bohemian atmosphere and the varied restaurant offering, which differs from what is typically found in the Dominican Republic, Las Terrenas has been gaining ground among Quebec snowbirds since the end of the pandemic.
The Los Kikis restaurant-bar, by the sea in Las Terrenas, where several Quebecers meet every week.
Elisa Cloutier
It is for this reason that Daniel Michaud, retired from the construction industry in Montreal, chose to move there, to get into the restaurant business.
“I came to discover and I fell in love,” says the owner of the popular bar Los Kikis.
European gastronomy
For gourmets, there is no shortage of choice in this small seaside village, where several restaurants are run by French people. Unfortunately, a major fire ravaged around ten establishments located on the beach, near the city center, on January 4. The authorities, however, say that the reconstruction process has already begun.
“There’s a certain touch of Quebec here that’s really interesting in terms of restaurant quality. There is a large choice of restaurants and the food is excellent,” says Daniel Côté, retired professor from the HEC school in Montreal, who goes there regularly with his partner, Narina Shahbazian.
Originally from Estrie, Daniel Côté and Narina Shahbazian love the quality of the restaurants in Las Terrenas, in addition to the peace and quiet found there.
Elisa Cloutier
The couple from Eastman also went to Las Terrenas three times last year. “We feel comfortable here, it’s very warm and it’s safe,” she maintains.
As Quebec has its place there, it is also of course possible to enjoy poutine, a club sandwich, or even a beaver tail on the beach.
The island of love
Bordered by mountains, jungle and exotic vegetation, white sand beaches and turquoise waters, Las Terrenas, accessible from El Catey airport, located about thirty minutes from the village, is a favorite for many.
It’s no surprise to learn that episodes of the popular show were filmed at El Limon Beach. Love Islandbroadcast on TVA.
They settled in Las Terrenas
Three Quebec couples launch into the hotel business
Three couples from the Laurentians have decided to pool all their savings to purchase a boutique hotel in Las Terrenas in November 2022.
Initially, this project bed and breakfast under the Caribbean sun was the retirement dream of Claude and Manon Fauteux, aged 65 and 64 respectively.
Together since high school, the two entrepreneurs, he from the world of construction and the furniture industry, and she, from hairdressing, did not want to live a traditional retirement by stopping working completely. But one thing was certain, they wanted to spend their winters under the Dominican sun, precisely in Las Terrenas, a place where they had been going regularly for around twenty years.
“When I saw the place, I said to my wife: this is where I want to experience happiness,” describes Mr. Fauteux.
Photo provided by Marilou Fauteux
Their daughter, Marilou, and her husband, as well as their couple of friends, also decided to invest in this “major project”, estimated at nearly one million US dollars. M’s maternal cousinme Fauteux, Nathalie Tremblay, also comes to lend a hand by managing the establishment, when the owners cannot be there.
“People tell us we’re lucky, but it’s a lot of risk management, time and sacrifice. My parents put their entire retirement into this, emptied their bank account and went all in», says Marilou Fauteux, TV producer, who works almost six months a year remotely. Her son, aged 4, is attending kindergarten in Las Terrenas this winter.
“It’s a lot of organization, but we get there and we know that one day it will pay off,” she says, happy to spend her winter warm.
Popular with Europeans, the Takuma boutique hotel is attracting more and more Canadians and Quebecers. “Tourism here has exploded since the pandemic, and in winter, we are almost always full,” says Marilou Fauteux, 38 years old.
Spaghetti, pies and beaver tails
Two former restaurant managers in Saint-Hyacinthe, who closed shortly before the pandemic, decided to “start from scratch” in Las Terrenas two years ago.
Véronique Mailhiot and Dominic Miron sold all their assets in Quebec and packed up.
“As long as we want to take over a restaurant in Quebec, re-hire, we said to ourselves: we’ll do it,” explains Mr. Miron, aged 49.
Having visited Las Terrenas a few times, there was no doubt that their “second life” would be spent there. “The only place we wanted to come back to was here,” says Mme Mailhiot.
They thus founded the ready-made meals company Suvid, and more recently opened a beaver tail counter on the edge of the beach. A stimulating retirement project, which keeps them warm in winter.
Living in Las Terrenas for almost two years, the couple composed of Véronique Mailhiot and Dominic Miron, from Saint-Hyacinthe, launched into the restaurant business.
Elisa Cloutier
Every week, Mr. Miron delivers cooked meals to around forty customers, who love recipes well known in Quebec, including traditional spaghetti sauce, lasagna, ribs, mashed potatoes, chicken. cordon bleu, raw vegetable dips and soups.
Every week, the Suvid company offers a wide choice of prepared meals, which appeal to Quebecers living in Las Terrenas.
Photo provided by Véronique Mailhiot
For the holiday season, Mme Mailhiot also concocts nearly 300 tourtières and turkeys. Part of its sales is also sent to local children living in precarious situations, on school benches.
Leave construction to open a Quebecois den
A true meeting point for Quebecers from Las Terrenas, the Los Kikis restaurant-bar was founded by Daniel Michaud and his daughter, Ève, almost three years ago.
On the menu: poutine, spaghetti, club sandwich and live Canadiens games. “When I arrived here three years ago, there were few [des Québécois], but there are really more and more of them,” mentions the restaurateur, retired from the construction field in Quebec. “It seems like people would rather come here than go to Florida,” he notes.
Ève Michaud, 25, and her father, Daniel Michaud, 62, from Montreal, founded the restaurant-bar Los Kikis, located a few steps from the beach in Las Terrenas. They serve, among other things, poutine, club sandwiches and plates of smoked meat.
Elisa Cloutier
His daughter, a waitress in a Laval restaurant, decided to live the snowbird life for the first time this year: she came to give her father a helping hand during the six months of winter. The graduate in business management and marketing mentions that she prefers the “more relaxed” lifestyle of Las Terrenas, to the snow banks of Quebec!
Every week, they organize themed evenings to bring together the village’s Quebec snowbirds.
- This report was produced thanks to the International Reporting Grant from the QMI Agency