Lyon’s restaurateurs cry out for survival

By plunging their restaurants into darkness, with only a few candles to light the tables, Lyon chefs want to challenge both customers and public authorities over high energy bills. Doubling the bills by six specific establishments, which threatens their economic model.

Christopher Margoynepresident Toques Blanches Lyonnaisesworried: “It’s the sword of Damocles. Some restaurateurs close another day, concentrating their reservations on four days only, to save a day’s worth of energy to pay. The state must take back control of the price of energy.”

daily struggle

Faced with this extraordinary burden of energy – gas, electricity or fuel oil – chefs on a daily basis play the trick. Some cook long into the night at a discount. Others stayed in the dark. Joseph Viola is one of the figures in Lyon’s cuisine, the best worker in France and the head of the corkscrew Daniel and Denise :

“We have already started installing timers for the common rooms. We have contacted the staff of our four institutions – Counting started – Let’s ask them, for example, not to vacuum in the dark hours, but in the light of day. We only open our signage at 7:15pm, instead of the 5:30pm earlier. During meal times, we close the back that the customer doesn’t see.

Of course, some State aid In January: a tariff shield for the smallest companies, or an electric shock absorber for slightly larger structures. However, restaurants now fear for their survival, especially when they see that at the same time raw materials continue to increase.