REPORTAGE
Ile-de-France restaurants will - finally - reopen their doors, not just their terraces. These professionals have been waiting for this recovery for weeks. Emmanuel Macron announced it on Sunday: all the restaurants, bars and cafes of Ile-de-France will be able to welcome customers in their dining room and on terraces, a week before June 22, the date initially planned by the government. A second wind for an entire profession, as Europe 1 has seen.
"We have to restart the machine"
"With my wife, we applauded, we were super happy! Turning on the ovens, turning on the fridges ... Yes, yes, yes I am very moved, I am very moved", says Europe 1 Eddy Creuzé, whose restaurant , without a terrace, could not reopen in early June. After three months of closure and no more cash, everything was ready to resume on June 22 but it was with a huge smile that he learned that the reopening could be done this week.
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"It's really, really important. Just a week, I can tell you, we're going to be able to make real turnover," he adds. "We have loads, things that fall every month ... we have to restart the machine, as we say!" Appointment this Monday morning for Eddy employees: on the program, 24h cleaning and a first service Tuesday noon.
First assessment in a few months
This is also the case at Didier Désert, in Paris. But the chef is sure: his room will not be sold out. "We have come a long way but tourists are not going to come back to Paris and yet one in two French people do not dare come back to the restaurant. This is a plus, and I hope it will be enough, but we do not will only find out in a few months. "
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In the meantime, the restaurateur continues his daily struggle: to be compensated by his insurance. "Too bad," he concludes, "that last night the president did not remind the insurers of their mission, to help us in this kind of situation".