15 Chefs have proposed a new economic model based on five sustainable commitments to allow restaurants to reopen.
"Mr. President, the chefs are asking you to reopen the restaurants!"
Like everywhere, “restaurants in France are in danger and must be allowed to reopen asap” plead 17 big names in Haute Gastronomy gathered within the Collège culinaire de France, in a grandstand at Le Figaro.
“Mr. President, the restaurant industry, is now at a standstill. Many of us may not be able to get back on our feet if the cessation of the activity continues. In spite of this, many restaurants and producers, despite an obvious economic distress, have volunteered to support hospital staff who save lives every day.”
The Collège culinaire de France has been working for a month to build a new economic model for post-pandemic restaurants reopening. The aim is to be more socially responsible and committed, with higher health and food safety standards, good for people and for the planet.
“We are waiting, Mr President of the Republic, for a decree to be promulgated as soon as possible to partially reopen the restaurants that follow the new economic model". This decree will encourage the Gastronomy world, from bistros to Michelin-starred restaurants, to follow and promote a new sustainable model with strong social and environmental impact.
The ambition is pretty clear, it’s to set up the new best practices in food safety, in line with the social and environmental expectations of the post pandemic reality.
This new model is based on 5 commitments:
- Staff morning meeting to discuss safety, best practices and behavior
- Making sure that every single client receives upon reservation an email presenting the health security measures in practice in the restaurant, so that both client and restaurant owner are united in that mutual commitment
- Total transparency on product sourcing and production methods. Many restaurateurs have already implemented this but it must become a universal rule.
- The list of products used in the preparation of the dishes should be available to customers upon request, together with the contact details of the producer. In addition, only fresh raw products should be sourced, paid at the right price to the producer.
- New social standards: working time in the restaurant will have to be shared, without discrimination, according to the number of people needed to resume activity. In other words, introduce a rotation so that each employee can benefit from the same conditions.
“Like millions of French people and most sectors of the economy, we are all suffering the consequences of an unprecedented crisis. It would be illusory to try to return to the world before Covid-19. On the other hand, it is time, at last, to listen to the warnings that have been repeated over and over again, in a deafening silence, about good practices that can no longer be ignored.
Mr President of the Republic, help us to turn this terrible situation into an opportunity to invent a better world in which we will enjoy living. Reopen the restaurants. And let us reinvent gastronomy and French-style conviviality. We are ready.”
Signed by Yannick Alléno, Frédéric Anton, Christophe Bacquié, Georges Blanc, Éric Briffard, Arnaud Donckele, Alain Ducasse, Éric Frechon, Gilles Goujon, Michel Guérard, Marc Haeberlin, Régis Marcon, Anne-Sophie Pic, Éric Pras, Emmanuel Renaut, Guy Savoy et Mathieu Viannay.
by Olivia Chessé for Chefs for Impact
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