The future is uncertain for the Coastal Canteen of popular chef Colombe St-Pierre, whom Quebecers saw as a mentor on the television show The Chiefs !. A conflict with the City of Rimouski regarding the location of the counter is jeopardizing its opening for next summer, while the mayor claims to have requested a review of the zoning by-law in question.
In 2020, during the pandemic, the chef opened a canteen with her husband in two transformed shipping containers. She installed them with the City’s permission in a parking lot across from her gourmet restaurant Chez St-Pierre, in Bic, popular with lovers of good food and whose dining room was closed for two summers because of the restrictions related to COVID-19.
The canteen, which compensated for this closure, allows customers to be served outside during the summer with a take-out menu, and high tables have been set up for eating standing up. Queues of residents and visitors are commonplace there, a sign of the success of the concept, which the chef would like to renew for a fourth summer in a row next year.
But the City asked him to change location for next summer and settle on private land. A complicated situation for Mme St-Pierre, who devoted time, energy and investment research to the project and who would have difficulty operating the canteen away from his restaurant.
In an open letter published by the To have to, Christine Portelance, a close friend of the chef aware of the situation, denounces “administrative hassle” which is increasing. “Inspections, complaints, discussions, etc. To the point of harming his work, ”she says.
“She was exhausted, distraught. I had never seen her like that, says in an interview the one who spoke to her this week. She told me she had trouble cooking. »
Joined by The dutyMme St-Pierre would not comment on the situation, as discussions are ongoing with the City.
Zoning overhaul
For his part, the mayor of Rimouski, in office since last November, affirms on the contrary that the City has done the entrepreneur a service, in the context where the pandemic has hit the restaurant world hard.
The chef is installed on public land while Rimouski’s “very strict” zoning regulations prohibit this type of project. “Despite everything, to ensure flexibility in an exceptional context linked to COVID-19, it was authorized for him on a temporary basis”, underlines in an interview with the To have to Guy Charon. She didn’t pay rent the first summer.
The city council allowed her to move to the same location again this summer as a “transitional measure”, but asked her to announce that she would not be returning for a fourth year, “so that people would not be not surprised”.
But since the canteen is popular and allows them to recover from the repercussions of the pandemic, Colombe St-Pierre and her spouse, who is also the owner, would like the project to last longer.
“We find ourselves with a problem at the municipal council where, if they want to act like that, everyone will have to be allowed to do so, said the mayor. She is asked to find a private piece of land where she could do the project. And in the meantime, on our side, at the City, we have instructed the administration to revise the article in question to provide us with options for next summer. »
Options that could be “more permissive”, assures the mayor, who says he is open “to these new formulas which are used in some parts of Quebec and which seem to enjoy the popular favor of citizens and tourists”.
Restaurant owners will be consulted in the process, which the City wants to conclude “sooner than later” so that the rules are the same for everyone. “We will have to find a framework for this formula. If we allow the use of a public space for a canteen like this, what do we do with the other requests that are sure to come? »
The Coastal Canteen has become a gastronomic destination during the holidays, underlines Christine Portelance, who has lived at Bic for nearly 15 years. “It could be interesting that there are other creative canteens,” she says.
“The canteen is more affordable than the restaurant [Chez St-Pierre]. It offers different and affordable food compared to the gourmet table,” she adds.
For its part, the Association des restaurateurs du Québec is preaching for a resolution of the conflict. “We hope that there will be fruitful discussions between Mr.me St-Pierre and the town hall to find a suitable location for containers and a solution that is fair to all businesses,” said Martin Vézina, Vice-President of Public and Governmental Affairs.