Last January, there were approximately 3,666 fewer restaurants in Quebec than two years ago, just before the pandemic, according to data obtained by the Association Restauration Québec. So around 17% of establishments have disappeared and, with them, the dreams of the cooking enthusiasts who founded them.
When he works as a waiter at the Syrian restaurant Alep, on rue Jean-Talon, Denis Vukmirovic is regularly asked for his news. Customers remember that he was one of three co-owners of another restaurant in the neighborhood, La Récolte – Espace local, which closed in November 2020 after more than seven years of existence.
“When you start a restaurant, it becomes your number one concern, like having a child. We were there seven days a week for the first four years, we were at the market at 8 in the morning. Then, he quietly became financially independent, we began to distance ourselves, to feel that the next generation was there among our staff… The pandemic arrived and, in two weeks, we had all that removed,” reports the former entrepreneur, whose business offered dishes made entirely of local ingredients.
For several months, La Récolte — Espace local offered take-out meals, which were very successful for a while. Despite everything, the co-owners could not keep their staff and had to resign themselves to working crazy hours to make their business work, as in its beginnings.
The problem is that Mr. Vukmirovic then had another baby, a human one. His partners also had small children. Were these family sacrifices worth it, when it wasn’t even profitable to open their small dining room when capacity was limited to 50%? During the second confinement, the co-owners decided not to.
It was far from lighthearted, however, that Mr. Vukmirovic gave up what was not only his passion, but also part of his identity. “My daughter’s daycare is next to La Récolte, so I walk past it every day. I’m starting to digest the thing, but it takes time, ”says the one who considers himself at least happy to work for a family restaurant that he respects enormously.
Gaëlle Cerf, she avoids passing on the street which housed the Grumman’78, which was her restaurant for 10 years. Almost a year and a half after it closed, the place is still empty, and its imposing sign is still in full view. “Our business model was made for large volumes, which was no longer possible. When we saw that everything was going to close in the fall, we said to ourselves that it was not worth fighting for, ”says the one who has worked in catering for 30 years.
The vice-president of the Association des restaurateurs de rue du Québec, whose food truck is also at a standstill, now devotes herself to organizing events with a gourmet flavor, through the organization Les Occurrences. She misses life as a business owner, but doesn’t feel ready to open a new restaurant.
A decline in sight
The Association Restauration Québec (ARQ) fears that the number of establishments will continue to plummet. “The next few months are going to be revealing, because the financial aid is ending soon. The customers seem to be there, but the restaurateurs have been in debt for two years,” explains Dominique Tremblay, director of public and governmental affairs at the ARQ.
The Association regrets that the Quebec budget tabled on Tuesday does not contain any new direct stimulus measures for its industry, while the rise in food prices and the shortage of labor add to the difficulties experienced by restaurateurs .
Moreover, in accommodation and food services, nearly 64% of Quebec businesses believe that the absence of government support programs dedicated to the survival of businesses will have a moderate or strong impact on their future, according to a survey conducted by the Fall by Statistics Canada. Companies in these sectors are also among the least optimistic about their future, according to a survey by the national body conducted in January.
The co-owner of Boucherie Provisions and Petit Italien Pablo Rojas Sutterlin admits it bluntly: his businesses are fragile. “Winter squeezed every penny we had left. It only takes one bad luck, that your compressor breaks or that your ventilation motor jumps and that you have $ 20,000 to pay, for it to no longer work, ”says the man who had to close one of his three restaurants. , Provisions 1268, due to the pandemic.
David Asseraf, for his part, found himself with only one branch out of three of his restaurants in fish & chips Comptoir 21. He had to divest himself of the establishment that brought him the most, at the original location, on rue Saint-Viateur, to concentrate on the largest, located in Verdun.
In addition to repaying his loans, Mr. Asseraf now has the headache of setting prices that take into account rising food prices, but that families are willing to pay. Even if his turnover and his personal income have melted, the entrepreneur is optimistic. He notices an enthusiastic return of customers to the dining rooms, after months of closure.
With Eric Desrosiers