Consequences “even more dramatic than those of the Covid crisis”. Facing a “real wall”, Lyon’s Toques Blanches – associations of chefs – are mobilizing to warn of “the constant increase in the price of energy” by organizing a special operation. A symbolic operation. Tuesday evening at 8 p.m., several restaurants in Lyon will serve their customers in the dark, offering them “candlelight dinners”.
“The price of energy in France directly attacks the economic model of restaurants. The threat of closure is already palpable”, worries the collective, explaining that restaurants “have seen their bill go from 700 euros to 15,000 euros in three months. »
“It’s starting to do a lot. We are already suffering from the increase in daily rates, and now we are being told of yet another increase with this month of “red March”. It has to stop ! “, rebels the chef Fabrice Bonnot.
“Cooking at night to take advantage of off-peak hours”
Clément Lattier is not the most affected today, he acknowledges, specifying that his contract is valid until June 2024 and that the increase was “only” 15%. “But that implies that we make concessions to reduce this increase to 11 or even 10%, he explains. We do all the setting up of the room without lighting, and we only turn it on during the service. During the staff lunch break, the entire restaurant is off. We turn the sign on later and turn it off earlier. These are measures that remain feasible, but binding. »
In the establishments of chef Joseph Viola, “we do some cooking at night to take advantage of off-peak hours”, or cooking with charcoal, we also use “timer switches”. “Anyway, we have no other choice if we want to keep our establishments,” laments the person concerned.
“We manage to pass on part of the increase to our prices, to compensate. And as everything increases, especially raw materials, we only reduce our margins and the financing of our restaurants! I don’t know how long we’ll be able to continue like this, ”concludes Julien Gautier.