Brasserie T!: Heading for a domino effect of catering closures?

The closing of Signé Toqué branches in early 2024 won't make restaurants and their customers hungry.

• Read more: Brasserie T! Closing its restaurants, 130 jobs lost

The pandemic, though it may be behind us, has thwarted the expansion plans of chef Normand Laprise and his wife, but it's not the only factor.

Despite the satisfactory traffic, inflation, distribution costs and salaries are added to the menu. As a result, operating costs at the production kitchen on Beaumont Street became too much to cover all three branches.

For Association Restoration Quebec, the failure of Brasserie T. does not necessarily apply to other businesses.

“Will there be other closures? Possible, but it won't be on the same path as the Signé Toqué group,” Martin Vezina told LCN.

Change in customer behavior

Brasserie T! It closed its doors during the worst time of the year, the post-holiday slump. So the most vulnerable restaurants could experience a very difficult year in terms of expected returns.

Customer behavior can also work against entrepreneurs. Gastronomy lovers meet next to Brasserie T! Dix30 has recognized from close quarters that post-pandemic price caps are changing the way they consume.

“Because catering is a luxury product, we go very little here,” one woman told TVA Nouvelles.

“We see costs increasing everywhere. Obviously, I believe there will be an impact on professionals as well,” underlines one of the surveyed.

“When I look at the bill, I realize that we weren't here three or four years ago. We're not paying what we're paying today,” another woman explains.

The 130 Signé Toqué employees who will lose their jobs will be helped to find new jobs at other restaurants.