The renowned restaurant Chez Saint-Pierre in Rimouski will not open next summer. Unsure of being able to reposition its containers in Bic, the town of Rimouski that is delaying the revision of its zoning statute, Colombe St-Pierre acquired the former Lilo canteen in Saint-Fabien in December 2022. that she will be opening her popular seaside canteen for the summer season.
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“It’s a temporary closure,” says the chef. We may be hosting a few events at Restaurant Bic this summer, but I can’t do more. It’s really impossible for me to open reservations. I’m moving, I’m short on staff and last summer my boyfriend and I got sick from working 80 hour weeks. »
The Seaside Canteen was first launched in the summer of 2020 in response to pandemic restrictions. In July 2022, Colombe St-Pierre learned it might not reopen in 2023, a zone article prohibiting the use of containers, trucks or trailers as buildings. The exemption ended when the health measures were lifted. If the city is still being relaxed, the boss did not want to jeopardize her season.
PHOTO ALAIN ROBERGE, THE PRESS
There will be space to receive many people and celebrate outside.
Like many other restaurateurs, the mentor of the program Les chefs! thinks a lot about the future of his job. “The catering industry is in crisis, the catering industry with its minimal margins of 2-3% even more so. I don’t feel comfortable with it [facturer] $400-500 per person. I don’t judge those who do, but I can’t. What I want to do is feed as many people as possible and do well with healthy foods. La Cantine is not about sauce powder and burgers. These are poutines with squid, halibut, oysters. You can even order a bottle of champagne! »
The why and the how
Colombe St-Pierre reiterates that the “why” of her approach has remained the same since the beginnings of her Bic restaurant in 2004, when she watched “18 wheels” full of fish and seafood go by without being able to turn in a single one Sea urchin.
Cooking has always been a bit political for me. I am committed to making local products more accessible. I won’t do it by becoming unavailable!
Colombe St Pierre
“What I question the most today is the format. In the midst of a pandemic, I still had a lot of fun cooking more simply, without reservations, for everyone. If you are a little patient you will eat! »
“There was initially a resilience in the summer of 2020 that led to creativity only to end in exhaustion because it took a lot of energy to conceive all these changes,” continues the chef. Add to that administrative worries and the heaviness becomes unbearable.
“I lit up a whole artisan know-how in Quebec. I was an asset to tourism in my region. I received Culinary Ambassador Medals and afterwards we wondered why I would benefit from the help? Somehow, during this whole municipal bylaws thing, I felt like I could disappear and nobody would object. Fortunately, the population supported me. »
PHOTO ALAIN ROBERGE, THE PRESS
Colombe St-Pierre has been cooking since she was 14 and has no intention of stopping! However, she wonders about the “how”.
It is not new that Colombe St-Pierre laments the misery in which many chefs practice their profession. But more than ever, between the tens of thousands of dollars transferred to credit card companies in a year — “I, if I go to a small independent business, I always pay with my Interac card,” she says — fees are piling up — increased wages , rising food prices, etc. “It breaks my heart when I hear from great Quebec chefs at the end of their careers telling me that they have never been hit so badly in their lives. »
Luckily, even if that doesn’t pay the bills, there is love for customers, joy in meeting people and love for the products.
What I want to do is cook. How ? I really don’t remember. But it’s important that we don’t run away, that we broadcast, so that the future becomes more consistent.
Colombe St Pierre
To know the exact opening date and other details of the 2023 Coast Canteen, which will set up its containers in Saint-Fabien in June, it is better to follow the company’s social networks.