Veal liver with parsley, Alsatian sauerkraut, pizzas ... around the Place de la Motte, in front of the central market halls of Limoges, the inhabitants and workers of the district are spoiled for choice.
These good little dishes are prepared by the twelve restaurateurs of the city installed since February 23 in the chalets usually used for the Christmas market.
An initiative of the Union des Métiers de l'Industrie Hôtelière de Haute-Vienne (UMIH) on a proposal from the town hall of Limoges, which is enough to make you forget for a moment the gloominess.
At the origin of the project, a desire of the municipality to come to the aid of the merchants of Limoges affected by the health crisis.
“
We wanted to make our restaurateurs visible, restore social ties, recreate good living,
” explains Émile Roger Lombertie, mayor of Limoges.
The Christmas market chalets were available, so they were offered free of charge to restaurateurs who wanted to develop their take-away offer there.
The turnover generated in this context is not deducted from the solidarity fund set up to help companies particularly affected by the crisis.
“
It costs nothing to traders,
” explains the city councilor.
Read also: Covid-19: Could France reopen restaurants for lunch as in Spain?
The UMIH was responsible for recruiting restaurateurs and organizing the market with simple rules to ensure compliance with health standards: no sale of alcohol, no preparation on site, no high bar in front of the chalets. , to avoid any parking or consumption on site.
“
We preferred to limit the number of chalets and leave more room to move around, to ensure that everything goes well,
” explains Alain Guillout, president of the UMIH.
Skeptical at first, there are now thirty-five restaurant owners on the waiting list.
The city has therefore decided to open eight more chalets on another busy square, and to extend the operation for at least two more weeks, or even "
as long as the restaurants are closed
" announces the mayor.
For Philippe Poisier, owner of the restaurant "
Le petit comptoir
", which offers "
calf's head with Gribiche sauce, beef cheek, and lionfish fillets
", this proposal was unexpected.
“
I went through a very dark period,
” he says.
"
Take-out, we all tried, we all stopped, it was a lot of work for nothing
."
But by bringing together several restaurateurs in an emblematic and particularly popular place in the city, the “
restaurateurs market
” gives it confidence by boosting both its turnover and its morale.
“
I usually have 50 covers a day, there is more than 100 takeaway meals
”, “
with the team we had seen each other for the last time when the restaurant closed in October, everyone was happy to meet again
”.
The customers are satisfied, and the restaurateurs happy to resume an activity: "
we find customers, social, dialogue, there are times when we forget that the Covid exists
".
Read also: Restaurants: no reopening date, but a protocol that is becoming clearer
And then ?
Philippe Poisier is waiting for the reopening of his restaurant but he intends to continue the take-away sale “
Now we know how to do it, before I didn't know.
Take-out is not going to go away like that, it's all positive
”.
Alain Guillout was contacted by the UMIHs in several other regions interested in the project.
"
This creates envy on French territory
", many are the neighboring towns which wish to reproduce the operation.
Finally, the city of Limoges will continue to support its restaurateurs in the months to come.
Émile Roger Lombertie announces tripling the surface of the terraces to facilitate the reopening of restaurants, and not make them pay for the rental of the public domain.
"
Even if it is a loss for the city, everything that can allow the economy to be maintained is important, while respecting the barrier gestures, it is as many spaces of exchange which must be maintained
" .