Not all have spoken about it, but two years of financial stress and uncertainty are taking a very heavy psychological toll on restaurateurs and their staff, many of whom cannot easily leave the industry or don t want to.
While watching one of Premier François Legault’s coronavirus press briefings last week, Sébastien Abrieu, the owner of Beaubien Street’s rooster-themed breakfast spot La Grand-Mère Poule, learned three things: more menacing virus variants continue to take hold; though the situation in Montreal remains stable, the third wave is in full force across the province; and, by deduction, his hope of reanimating his terrasse for outdoor dining might have to wait.
Abrieu and his partner Catherine Laforest had been deep in renovations turning the breakfast joint into an all-day affair, incorporating a cocktail bar and new design to match the burger-and-shakes offering they’d imported from their hit Mont St-Hilaire restaurant Shack Attakk. They’d expected a springtime terrasse would bring some reprieve as they undertook these costly changes.
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