Bar owners take a deep breath and plunge in
Bars serving food were hopping along Mont-royal Ave. this week, and that was just an appetizer. As of Thursday, all bars in Quebec are now allowed to sling drinks — no eats required.
Pub West Shefford, near the corner of Fabre St., has been up and running since Monday. The place was doing brisk business for St-jean-baptiste, Tuesday and Wednesday, as was its neighbour Les Enfants du Rock Montréal.
“We have a concise menu, a kitchen and the MAPAQ (restaurant) permit, so we were able to open,” said Pub West Shefford co-owner Maxime Rousseau.
Mont-royal Ave. is pedestrian-only for the summer, and the borough and the area’s Société de développement commercial helped accelerate the permit process to allow the bar to expand its terrasse by taking over the spaces in front of two neighbouring businesses. So far, it has been worth the effort.
“Honestly, I was very afraid,” Rousseau said. “It’s very expensive to be open, but since Monday it’s been full, full, full. The numbers are surprising, despite the conditions. People were excited for Stjean.
Turns out it was a good call to close Mont-royal to traffic.”
Most of the action is taking place on Pub West Shefford’s ample terrasse, and at two tables near the restaurant’s big sliding windows. Customers had to order food with their drinks early in the week, but that wasn’t a problem.
“People don’t care what we’re selling — they just want to sit outside,” Rousseau said.
Social distancing has been enforced between tables, but he admits staff hasn’t been quizzing customers on who lives with whom — a measure to keep people who live in different households the required two metres apart.
“I’m sure people are not respecting the guidelines,” he said. “Everyone is just happy to see each other.”
Rousseau welcomed Thursday’s announcement, as it allows him to operate not under restaurant rules, but as a bar proper.
“We will be allowed to close at 3 a.m. again (instead of midnight),” he said, “and hire DJS, and have a barman at night. So far, we’ve been in diner mode.”
Over on Parc Ave., beloved wine bar Buvette chez Simone was gearing up to open on Monday. Though the place has a kitchen, and has been serving takeout since May 27, restarting the whole business while meeting government safety requirements is a whole different ball game.
“It’s like opening a new restaurant,” said owner Simone Chevalot, who also co-owns Furco and Parvis downtown. “We needed the time this week (to prepare).”
She and her staff are building plywood dividers — “no Plexiglas, which I find disgusting,” Chevalot explained.
“I find (the whole thing) funny, if you can call it funny to be rolling with 40 customers (seated, instead of 95).”
Asked if she is excited to reopen, Chevalot paused, then let out a sigh.
“What I like about life is that each day is a new day,” she said. “Truthfully, my state is evolving so quickly . ... I think the hardest thing is working in a context that is completely different from what we want Buvette to be, which is a living space that is intimate and relaxed.
“I must admit, learning to work with visors and masks, having a lot of distance between tables and (lowering the) music, it brings a whole other approach to what we do.”
Kevin Demers owns Old Montreal hot spots Coldroom, El Pequeño and Parliament. The latter two opened Wednesday — Coldroom is closed for renovations for a couple more weeks — but Demers was in no rush to get back into party mode.
“It’s like reopening a business,” he said, “because you don’t know what to expect. We’re not opening as quickly as everyone else. Staff really wants to work, but I can’t offer everyone a job off the bat. I have to take my time, as a business owner. That’s where it gets tough. There are a lot of big decisions to make.
“I have a daughter, and family members with low immune systems who are older. I would rather make sure they’re safe. I work with the public, which is where it gets difficult. I’m trying to make the right decisions not just for myself, but for 35 other people I work with, and family as well. It’s a weird thing.”