In the 1932 historic room of the Allard restaurant, 41, rue Saint-André-des-Arts (VIe), there are still the original paintings on the walls, the period bar in the back room and the loupiotes in the ceiling.
In addition, in recent weeks, an entire infrastructure of ducts and filters has been added to provide air conditioning and ventilation for the restaurant. An exceptional anti-Covid barrage.
"We have kept the original DNA of the place and we have given it a contemporary touch that will mark the history of the virus," says Alain Ducasse, the big French boss, with his 2,000 employees and his activities in ten countries.
Meals without mask
But it was here, in this restaurant with reduced dimensions, that he innovated. “I saw my restaurants closed due to heavy sanitary measures. And I said to myself that we had to find a solution. I called Patrick Jouin my designer and Arnaud Delloye my architect, and with a dozen different skills, we found the solution both sanitary and economical ", he rejoices this Thursday morning, by organizing a meal, without mask and safely.
“We had reorganized the room to ensure the 1m distances required by the government. But the experts we consulted told us that it would be useless if we did not ensure air circulation, ”says Arnaud Delloye, already aware of air conditioning issues in luxury spaces around the world.
A first technical sketch is proposed. Two professors in pulmonology and in the bacteriology department took the reflection further. And in record time the objective was set: "It is the air that carries the aerosols potentially charged with the virus that must be identified" underlines this shock team in the service of French savoir vivre.
Experts' green light
"We then created a mechanic who ensures above each table an air filtration equivalent to that of an operating theater", tries to explain Arnaud Delloye by showing the 120 m of galvanized steel ducts which run as waves between the lamps on the ceiling to evacuate the air by the old-fashioned extractors.
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"Air filtration is then ensured both in the fresh air network and in that of extraction" ... A double movement whose blown air passes through a sock designed by an illustrator and which symbolizes the times the breath, the flapping of the wing and the clouds. A method finally approved by the Compiègne University of Technology and the general management of the National Research and Security Institute (INRS).
"We could have painted these sheaths or hidden them under formwork," adds Patrick Jouin. But we preferred to assume them. They impose themselves in the room. But quickly everyone forgets it ”. It is the same with screens made of materials from the sail that separate the tables and which provide sound and sanitary insulation. A whole that does not interfere with the pleasure of the table.
45,000 euros and 18 jobs saved
“Even after the virus, I think I will keep this whole system set up by real artists. It will be useful against all future viruses, ”says Alain Ducasse, who is thinking of patenting it, and applying it to other bistros such as Aux Lyonnais (IIe).
"This technique allows me to keep 80% of my tables and have an economic balance that allows me to open the restaurant," said the businessman. 45,000 euros have been committed. Enough to make work a team of 18 people, who, them, keep the mask during all the service.
VIDEO. In Paris, a restaurant owner puts his customers under cover
