It is in adversity that we discover ourselves, we say. For those who have seen their work environment shaken, this year will have been a source of further reflection. To close the loop on a happy note, here are three people from the culinary world who took 2021 as a stepping stone to a new adventure. Second portrait of three.
In the restaurant industry in Quebec, the position of chef Étienne McKinnon is more than enviable. Co-owner of Sardines – a well-known snack bar in the capital – he served simple and tasty market cuisine in this small neighborhood restaurant with loyal customers. And now, a few months away from becoming a dad, he is playing it all for everything: leaving the city and trying his luck in the region by taking over the reins of La p’tite Brûlerie, a place no less loved, in Deschambault.
When we met him, a few days before his move (and the holiday season!), Étienne McKinnon was returning from a day of observation with the La p’tite Brûlerie team. , he drops, not without a hint of excitement. They are only regular customers. Everyone knows each other by name. The community spirit is super strong, and people are very attached to this place. The world was asking: how is Mélanie? “
“Mélanie” is Mélanie Gagné, the owner, who gives the reins of the place to better focus on the roasting and distribution of her coffee. “It just really clicked,” says Étienne McKinnon, when he talks about the premise of the project. Life partner of Alexandra Fiset, co-owner of the vegetable farm La Baigneuse, also in Deschambault, the chef did not see how to combine work in the city and that in the fields with a newborn baby. “Knowing the lack of child care spaces, I saw no solution,” he emphasizes. Until the echoes of the sale of La p’tite Brûlerie came to his ears.
Listening to his story, we tell ourselves that there is certainly a lucky star watching over Étienne McKinnon. He himself seems to have a hard time believing it as things have aligned themselves so well. The first meeting with Mélanie Gagné, in a way, sealed the fate. “She was looking for someone who would like to take the [relais], who had a background in catering. The offer was too good. All the more so since she came with a dwelling, above the cafe.
The chef has therefore done his homework, supported by his lover, a “champion in management and administration”, he wishes to say. “If it wasn’t for Alex, I never would have gotten into this. While he was making his plans and calculations, Mélanie Gagné never tried to accept another offer. A pledge of confidence that continued until the final preparations for the great transition. And so La p’tite Brûlerie was renamed La Dinette du Cap. The opening is scheduled for 1er next february. The arrival of the infant, in March. “It’s going to be intense, exclaims Étienne McKinnon. But if there’s one thing you can do, it’s work hard and organize yourself. “
Quality of life
In addition to continuing to serve and sell La p’tite Brûlerie coffee, Étienne McKinnon would like to improve the food offer. Slowly but surely. He explains: “We will start with the simplest and continue to buy pastries. And thereafter, I will do some. In a year, there will be a restaurant. But it could also be a coffee, and I would go to bed at 9 o’clock in the evening. That would be okay! What I have learned from the experience of Sardines is that [ouvrir son restaurant], it comes with the idea of offering a quality of life, he continues. One must not be a victim of his job. If she’s leading you and not the other way around, it doesn’t work. “
The effects of the pandemic on customers had forced the Sardines team to close for a few months, a time when everyone was able to take a step back. It also allowed the chef to put the place of the restaurant in his life into perspective and to open the door to new possibilities.
It evokes European-style village restaurants, where everyone eats the same thing. “All chefs probably want to do that, it’s a bit romantic. There is a dish on the menu, very family-friendly, very simple. It changes the next day. He would also see some snacks on the slate for a drink on the terrace. “It will be very centered around vegetables and local products. The idea is to create with the availability of what is around. […] Must that [connecte] with the world I can’t just do my trip in the kitchen. “
If he is afraid of being labeled as “the guy from the city who arrives”, Étienne McKinnon leaves the capital with the hope of knowing how to make his place. His humility also makes him very endearing. “My approach is the opposite of Sardines, where we opened our favorite restaurant. There I want to make a place for people. That’s why [je fais les changements] groping. I want it to be a unifying place. I want to know the names of the clients as it is done at the moment. I want to be close to this new community. “