Finally ! Since May 11, timidly but surely, the whole of France is waking up after two long months of confinement. But if almost all the traders have reopened, the restaurants are still keeping closed doors, the government has not yet given its agreement as to their reopening, even if the date of June 2 seems to be confirmed for the green departments. An untenable situation for all catering professionals, which remains one of the sectors most affected by this crisis. Driven by financial problems and very worried about their future, several chefs decided to step up to the plate. The loudest in the mouth, Philippe Etchebest, more than ever reassembled, said: “It’s a real nightmare! With his outspokenness, the famous chef spoke on the subject in C to you on France 5 on April 13. He had not hidden his concern for all the restaurants which had had to stop their activities following the confinement. The talented cook, the best worker in France, who himself had to close his establishment Le Quatrième Mur located in Bordeaux, nevertheless thought he could welcome his customers again, like all of his colleagues, on May 11. Alas, it’s missed! He even admitted that his throat was knotted that he had to put his team on partial unemployment, like many restaurateurs. A heartbreaker for this humanist, very attached to his team.
Terrible situation, indeed, than those of these enthusiasts who do not count their hours to offer gourmets fleeting moments of happiness … In this difficult period, being able to feast on a good little dish concocted by these exceptional cooks, that’s it which would cheer up all quarantined epicureans …
Desperate like so many others, it was Hélène Darroze who, a few days ago, rose to the niche in the columns of Paris Match. The Michelin-starred chef even revealed that he was in debt “to the neck! How can we imagine that this cook touched by grace, who magnifies like no one the recipes of the South West, her native region, could shut down? Yet this is what the pretty blonde with a singing accent dreads. “In addition to my bank, seven friends have invested with me. So I have a double responsibility, because they are friends, clients, neither financial nor investment funds ”, deplores the juror of Top chef. The mother of Charlotte, 12, and Quiterie, 10, asked Emmanuel Macron for help, pleading for the French art of living to survive!
Same alarmist bell on the side of Jean-François Piège who also risks very big, as he also told in Paris Match : “In five years, with my wife Élodie, we bought five restaurants. We have
borrowed, we put our apartments on bail, everything we have. We took risks. Even if the chef, who shouted a duet with his sister Hélène Darroze “France without restaurants is not France”, was able, like her, to contract a PGE, this loan guaranteed by the State granted to companies to deal with their cash flow problems during confinement, he wonders how he will repay this financial assistance if the clientele is not there.
And so that this message sent to the address of the public authorities is not in vain, Philippe Etchebest continues to preach the good word in the media, hoping that his SOS of a restaurateur in distress finally reaches the ears of the head of the State. And there is no question of speaking only on behalf of the great tables! From the neighborhood bistro that feasts on midday steak and fries for office workers at the family pizzeria, passing by the cafes that offer daily specials, it is by remaining united and determined, that everyone will raise the bar: “Everyone is concerned, from the crêperie to the three-star hotel. We’re all closed, so we’re all in shit! “, He got carried away during the confinement. Hoping, like his restorer friends, to be able to reopen soon, he announced on May 14 on LCI that they would all have to tighten their belts but also reinvent themselves: “We are ready to reopen but be careful, not in any conditions , not just anyhow. There are plenty of points to clear up today. “
To bring customers back and reassure them, we will have to find solutions, by considering other ways of working in the kitchen, spacing the tables in the dining room, in order to respect social distancing measures, and wearing masks in the personal… A real headache!
“It’s a fight that lasts, there will be breakage. There are some today. There are financial bankruptcies, but there are moral bankruptcies which are extremely important, ”he said. Well aware that the Covid-19 which has caused so many deaths remains a formidable threat that must be combated, it fears that this pandemic will also cause many collateral victims in its profession, to the point of fearing a massacre which it takes for everything Price avoid: “There have already been two cases of suicide today in our profession, which is dramatic. Unimaginable indeed to think that entrepreneurs who give their lives to run their business come to such extremes. “I want to say that the crisis, it does damage afterwards. And they may be even bigger than that, if we do nothing. ” Clearly…
Valérie EDMOND
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