Restaurants in times of coronavirus: open differently

By: Clémence Denavit Follow

Europe is gradually emerging from the confinement in which it was immersed in order to limit the spread of the virus. Restaurants are gradually reopening their doors in Italy, Spain and France - with the exception of Ile de France, Mayotte and Guyana. In Africa, the health crisis persists in certain countries and with it the containment measures making critical the situation of restaurateurs deprived of activity for 3 months.

Publicity

The priority : break out of confinement

Gabon and the DRC have been confined since March, under more or less strict conditions. Three months of inactivity, and difficult reorganization. In Gabon, chef Merlin Ella launched several alarm calls in early June 2020 to warn of the dramatic consequences for the restaurant industry of such a long period of inactivity. He denounces the government's lack of communication and the lack of clarity in the rare messages from the authorities. Takeaway, home catering services in time of confinement: Who can do what? “Not all restaurateurs do the same thing, not all offer the same services. The government sometimes accepts that takeout is offered, sometimes refuses, so we don't know what to think! I had to close my restaurant, it's been 3 months since I can't work, but it's always been 3 months of charges and wages which I have to pay! The measures taken are necessary to fight against the virus, the root of the problem is really the confusion and the lack of communication from the authorities. Discussions began Thursday, June 11, 2020 with officials from the hotel and restaurant sector in Gabon.

In Kinshasa, the establishments have been closed since March 2020 as well. All were hoping for the containment to be lifted in early June, but the authorities extended it by two weeks, despite the restaurant owners' proposals sent to the authorities in May to guarantee the safest possible reopening to protect the health of customers.

Welcome differently

In France, in Paris and in the neighboring departments of the capital await the complete reopening of their establishments. Between safety distance, freezing and wearing a mask, the restaurant of tomorrow will be very different from the one it was before confinement. Stéphane Jego, the chef at l'Ami Jean restaurant continues his fight “to force insurance companies to act” initiated in the early hours of the #RestoEnsemble crisis. Stéphane refines "The Friend of Tomorrow". Over the weeks, he observed, humbly tested the solutions that made it possible to work, and decided that his restaurant would return to its source: a grocery restaurant, as at the origin of this open establishment, there is almost a century, in 1931. When it reopens - hoped for in Paris before the end of June 2020 - customers will be able to have lunch, savor its generous, frank, whole, wonderfully tasty, sometimes regressive cuisine - buy vegetables from producers with whom the chef has worked for years, drink a coffee, share a moment as delicious as before, otherwise.

With Stéphane Jego,  chef of l'Ami Jean, 27 rue Malar, 75007 Paris. +33 1 47 05 86 89 / contact@lamijean.fr. L'Ami Jean website.

With Merlin Cédric Ella , chef at the Ella restaurant in Libreville, Gabon. In the district of Agondgé, city sherko. Tel: +241 77 26 71 57.
→ Facebook La Famille Ella
- Christian Yumbi , chef of the Arôme restaurant in Kinshasa. CTC building: 10, Avenue Wagenia, Gombe, Kinshasa . Phone. +243 995716133.
- Lydie Dougrou , promoter of restaurant 333, Alamdies, near the United Nations in Dakar.
→ Facebook by Lydie Dougrou.

To go further
→ #RestoEnsemble: Restaurateurs in France mobilized for insurance recognition of the pandemic.
On their RestoEnsemble site , documents, information, concrete support to help restaurateurs.
→ The chefs with the caregivers, at the initiative of the AP-HP, Guillaume Gomez, chef at the Élysée, and the food critic journalist Stéphane Méjanès. The chefs with carers website .
→ The site Refugee Food Festival
→ The residence of the Refugee Food Festival

Musical programming
Solidarité de M, with Ibrahim Maalouf, Sidiki Diakité, Seu Jorge, Toumani Diabaté…

THE RECIPE
The (famous) Ami Jean rice pudding, caramel and nougatine whipped cream.

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• Gastronomy
• Coronavirus

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