The concern of Philippe Etchebest : 40% of restaurants will close if nothing moves

The grand chef asks for a solidarity fund to help support his profession, and believed that the déconfinement is not synonymous with an end to the crisis.

The déconfinement Tuesday restaurants "is not synonymous with the end of the crisis", for Philippe Etchebest. The media chief of bordeaux is estimated that 40% of restaurants will close "if nothing moves," and calls for a solidarity fund for his profession, exhausted by the Covid-19.

The chief star of the TV is ready to reopen Tuesday its restaurant "The 4th wall", in the downtown chic of Bordeaux, with a health protocol strictly. It provides a "referrer Covid" responsible for "tracking the entire world", even the customers, who must wear the mask to be seated or to go to the toilet. "For me, all the lights are green", but how many will not have this "luck" ?, he acknowledged Friday.

ALSO READ >> What we know about the reopening of restaurants, bars and cafés

Your support is essential. Subscribe for $ 1 support Us

"there are many, many who will not be able to resume because with the distance of one meter, for 30 people in a small room, they may move to 10. And, therefore, the profitability threshold will not be reached," said the chef, known for his formulas to shocks in his show "ramsay's kitchen nightmares" on M6.

"Limit breaks"

Member of the Collective of restaurateurs from the South-West, a group of reflection of the business including the boss of the chain Bistro, Regent, Marc Vanhove, the contractor has been fighting for the containment for the creation of a solidarity fund paid for by the State, insurers and the profession itself.

READ ALSO >> "I don't think that !" : the French are they willing to return to the restaurant?

Objective : "limit breaks" in the approximately 220 000 French restaurants and bars - two million direct and indirect jobs, according to him. In vain : "It was the feeling of not being taken seriously", he complained. "The reopening is not synonymous with the end of the crisis, it is imperative that the State help us (...) once more, if nothing moves by the end of the year, there will be 40% of the closure of restaurants", according to the restaurateur, who is said to have saved 300 000 euros of losses" during the confinement.

"You can separate yourself from your workforce with the part-time unemployment, ( ... ), but there is one thing that remains : what are the fixed costs on which we are fighting for weeks and weeks. It is necessary to find a way for these fees to be covered", he explains. He is claiming an "exemption of charges for all" and the retention of the part-time unemployment, supported by the State "until the end of the year."

Read our complete file

France in the face of the déconfinement

Bayrou angry at Air France after the reduction of the number of flights Paris-Pau Three questions on the assistance of 750 million euros provided by the State to communities The rule of a seat on both the SNCF soon be lifted?

"that does not give the State and the insurance now, it's going to cost a lot more after it, because it will count the number of bankruptcies (...) and the mass unemployment that is going to happen", is cause for alarm there. "It is now that the restaurants are in need of help, it is now that they are in the process of bursting".