INVESTIGATION
The alarm cry launched by chef Philippe Etchebest in May, on the suicide of two restaurateurs, remains valid: professionals in this sector hard hit by the coronavirus crisis are still encountering immense difficulties, while deconfinement has started a month ago. Some barely manage to reach 20 to 30% of their pre-crisis turnover and are plunged into deep distress. Europe 1 investigated the malaise of an entire profession.
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And the distress is not the business of a few isolated chiefs: in Ile-de-France, in the Grand-Est or in Hauts-de-France, the professionals we interviewed admit to preparing for human tragedies. A representative of Languedoc restaurateurs ensures that every day, he receives a dozen calls from colleagues wiped out by this crisis.
"Suicide is in my head, yes"
For this professional, the worst could happen in the fall, when the season is over. "I know some who will take action," he warns. "There are times when I feel like I no longer have the strength to fight," says Gianni, an Italian restaurant owner in Paris. "I feel alone. I’m not hiding it, but suicide is in my head, yes. You know, when we talk, it’s always a relief, but the person who acts out says nothing, but it does. "
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The risk is taken seriously, with the recent establishment of a listening number by one of the professional federations. By calling 08.05.65.50.50, open seven days a week from 8 am to 8 pm, restaurateurs can confide in psychologists.
" I stayed here three years, seven days a week, without seeing my wife or children "But how does one go from an economic crisis to a human drama? It's not just restaurants crumbling, but whole lives of sacrifice. "I stayed here three years, from morning to night, seven days a week, without seeing my wife or my children. I was there to support him, it was my baby," said Gianni of his restaurant. "Can you imagine all the money I have invested here? This is my life."
The disillusionment of deconfinement
Overworked, restaurateurs often drag a whole home into crisis. A Strasbourg chef had asked his parents and grandparents to help him financially to set up his business. Today, if he loses his establishment, the family home will be mortgaged.
For many, the recovery enabled by deconfinement has turned into disillusionment. Of course, there was the euphoria of the reopening, because the restaurateurs had prepared and had invested in the equipment, by betting on the terraces to compensate for the limited number of places inside. Except that the weather got involved and the bad weather prevented the terraces from filling up. A new setback and a new ordeal that made many of them lose hope. "I have to start paying the rent and the VAT, my staff no longer have short-time working. If I don't have the turnover that goes with it, you have to explain to me how I'm going to do it," concludes Gianni. .