The bistro "Le Poppies", located in the city center of Nice, opened its doors on Wednesday January 27 for lunch at noon, defying all the bans linked to the Covid-19 epidemic, our colleagues from
Nice
noted
Morning
and AFP.
Read also: "It's just for friends": dive into the world of illegal restaurants
"Freedom!"
, exults Christophe Wilson, the boss of the
Poppies
, in a video posted on social networks.
And for good reason, taking advantage of a sunny Wednesday in Nice, he decided that today his dishes would be served at the table.
As a result, the restaurant is packed, occupied by a hundred customers.
According to
Nice Matin
, the restaurant owner had 50 reservations planned this afternoon and organized two services.
Everything would have been done by word of mouth since the start of the week.
"I hope that everyone will follow suit and that the entire population of our country will resume the course of their normal lives
,
"
the 50-year-old restaurateur told AFP.
The latter, however, did not plan to reopen his establishment in the coming days.
“When I see Carrefour or Prima or all these multinationals where hundreds of people congregate, I can no longer accept that.
I have to pay my employees, support my family and receive my clients ”
, also claimed this manager.
"
It is my duty to disobey,
" he also confided to the journalists from
Nice Matin
present in the bristro.
Police indulgence ... a while
The police, who were present near the establishment, as well as many media, did not intervene to verbalize the customers seated without a mask, under the awnings of the terrace.
The restaurateur congratulated himself on the day for the “
indulgence
” of the police officers who did not impose a fine on him, even if he was summoned “
to the central police station
”.
In a message posted on Twitter in the evening, the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes indicated that Mr. Wilson had been taken into police custody and that his cook, in an irregular situation, had for his part been placed in detention.
And the prefecture to add in a second message that
"the identified people who took part in this prohibited gathering were where they will all be fined
."
To read also: David Rockwell: "We were able to help forty restaurants in all New York"
"
We came to support Christophe in his action of disobedience of pleasure, it must be said, we are not in a violent process, it's just so that we find our fraternity.
It allowed us to exchange, discuss, like the life we had before, what
”, welcomed at the end of the lunch one of the customers, Franck Lacaille, 35, chef in a restaurant. semi-gastronomic of Draguignan (Var).
To read also: "I will reopen on February 1st": the call to disobedience of this restaurateur remains little followed
Customers, many of whom are local figures of the “
yellow vests
” movement, noted an AFP journalist, had the choice between a Nice dish par excellence, gnocchi and stew, or a vegetarian dish based on of red lentils.
An initiative that contrasts with the position of the LR mayor of Nice Christian Estrosi.
On Wednesday the latter announced that he had taken a decree banning seasonal rentals in his city from February 6 to 20, in order to avoid a new outbreak of Covid-19 cases.
