The extended health pass comes into effect today. In Montauban, Mathieu Lévèque, owner and chef of the restaurant “Du Noise en Cuisine”, installed for four years, has the feeling that he is once again living in the dark.
It has undoubtedly not finished dividing the “for” and “against” … From today, the health pass takes a further step. Already in force since July 21 in certain places of leisure and culture, this pass (total vaccination, negative Covid-19 test or certificate of recovery) is extended this Monday to cafes, bars, restaurants, planes, trains, coaches for long journeys, fairs, seminars and trade shows. In Montauban, Mathieu Lévèque, 31, agreed to share his thoughts with us before the entry into force of this new measure in his restaurant “Du Bruit en cuisine”. Installed for only four years, the young chef experienced the double penalty by being confronted, one after the other, with the major modernization works of the Mortarieu alleys then with repeated sanitary confinements. But at the head of an establishment with 80 seats and 12 employees, he remains optimistic and determined.
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How are you going to operate in practice?
Once again, we will have to improvise and adapt. The only thing we know is that we are going to have to carry out checks. At the present time (Editor’s note: the interview was carried out on Friday morning), I have very little information. We will probably use the application to scan the QR Code of our customers. The difficulty will be to control the groups, when 30 people arrive at the same time. I don’t think I will equip myself with a special terminal at the entrance. But one thing is certain: we will do what is necessary. I don’t want to close the restaurant in a few weeks. I hope that the health pass will curb the spread of the virus.
Are you vaccinated? What about your staff?
I only received one injection because I had the Covid. Three quarters of employees are also vaccinated. The others follow. But I never forced the vaccine on my staff. Everyone has their freedom.
According to your first contacts with customers, how will these controls be taken?
I want to stay optimistic. I have a feeling that people are going to play along. At least a large majority.
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What is your assessment since the reopening of your restaurant in May, after the second confinement?
A very satisfactory result. We quickly felt that people wanted to come out. The customers responded present, fully present. The restaurant achieved numbers that I had never had the opportunity to do. So of course, we have a very young establishment, but still. We exceeded all the forecasts that we had been able to make before opening. This dynamic must not stop.
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Six years in the Ducasse house
After having completed part of his schooling at the Family Institute, just in front of his restaurant today, Mathieu Lévèque went to the hotel school of Souillac. The young man, now 31 years old, then cut his teeth in several French regions but also in large houses. The Montalbanese cook worked for six years at Ducasse, in the Verdon gorges, in Monaco and in London.
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