“My employees saved my business,” admits the executive chef of Groupe Europea . When the COVID-19 pandemic hit Quebec, Jérôme Ferrer had only one thing on his mind: preserving jobs at home. “By talking to my colleagues around the world, I understood three weeks in advance that we were going to close. In the end, I managed to keep 70% of my employees employed.”

During the lockdown, Jérôme Ferrer therefore put everything into La Boîte du chef , a home delivery service for ready-to-eat meals. “The adventure was great from the start, because all the employees pitched in. It was as if all of a sudden, the lights went out and everyone started running to find matchboxes and candles. The master sommelier started making deliveries, the waiter made boxes… All in a collegiate and family atmosphere. I had never seen that in our company! Thanks to everyone's active participation, we accomplished miracles, even though we were constantly on a knife edge to pay part of the bills and rent…”

To open or not to open

Jérôme Ferrer took advantage of the 90 days of closure to think about the different reopening scenarios that would respect health measures. "I thought about it morning, noon and night," he admits. "In our reality of haute cuisine, we cannot afford not to have a table set with a candle, flowers, salt and pepper. During a meal, we offer 12 to 15 courses to customers and our concept is largely based on interactions with the server. It is in our DNA to create emotion, to surprise people. So I decided not to open the gourmet table, but to take customers on a journey through an experience."

His restaurant is temporarily becoming the space for Epicure Land , an immersive journey and culinary journey of five courses at an affordable price. “I don’t know about you, but after three months of confinement, I only wanted one thing: to have a passport in my hands and go on a trip. This concept is inspired by this taste for escape, but in a safe setting. We will give a passport to customers who will be able to have it stamped at each station. Upstairs, we have created a chalet with a moose head, a bed, and walls made of wood reminiscent of the spirit of the sugar shack that we missed so much this spring.”

This concept has the potential to attract young students and families, some of whom will never have set foot in Europea, the chef acknowledges.

What will remain of our great tables?

The Grand Chef Relais & Châteaux admits that he is hurting in his profession. "I don't want to make the restaurant industry a case in point," he corrects. "All sectors have been affected, but I still have trouble digesting the fact that the government has not considered or consulted us more. We operate in a very precarious environment. Restaurants have a profit margin of 4 to 7% at most."

According to him, it is not necessarily the most highly rated or best known restaurateurs who will survive, but those who have a vision and who have been able to reorganize and readjust in the emergency.

“At Europea, we were at 110% of our occupancy rate to get our break even,” he adds. “It’s obvious that our business model will have to change. For us, there will be no return to normal. We will have to rebuild our financial health,” concludes the man who would like to reopen in time for the holiday season. The return of Europea to the lunchtime gastronomic scene will have to wait at least a year, according to the chef-owner.