In a restaurant in Montreal, dummies for the fight against the pandemic

“We wanted to give more space to the customers. But we do not want to remove tables or put plexiglas panels”, explains Jérémie Bastien, owner and chef of Monarch restaurant in Old Montreal.

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July 12, 2020 9: 35 am

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In a restaurant in Montreal, dummies for the fight against the pandemic

AFP

Agence France-Presse

MONTREAL — IN Montreal, a restaurant is associated with a fashion designer to install a thirty mannequins between the tables with a dual purpose : to ensure the distancing physics and then sell the clothing auction for charity.

“We wanted to give more space to the customers”, explains to the AFP Jeremie Bastien, owner and chef of Monarch restaurant in Old Montreal.

While the shops timidly begin to reopen their doors in the quebec metropolis, epicenter of the epidemic of coronavirus in Canada, the Monarch has re-launched her kitchen a few days ago, with the desire to comply with social distancing.

“But we do not want to remove tables or put plexiglas panels”, explains the boss of this chic restaurant. “I thought it was a pretty ordinary”.

The concept of models comes from the team of the clothing brand Sarah Pacini, is a part of the designer and couturier of quebec Philippe Dubuc.

“We wanted to do an install, stylish, top of the range because it is two worlds which meet, the fashion and food. I think, this are two worlds which coexist since always,” says Mr. Dubuc.

29 mannequins are dressed in the collections of Sarah Pacini and Philippe Dubuc. They are inspired by “place for presentation” in order “that it is visually beautiful and fluid” for the customer and the restaurant team, ” he said.

“Silent auction”

“We’re here, of course, to create clothes and bring them to market. But […] our job is also to dream and then create a scene,” adds the designer.

“I think that is a wonderful idea to make the separation between the tables, and to make the atmosphere much more pleasant given the current situation,” said Nassim Habashi, one of the customers sat at table for lunch.

After each meal, customers will receive a gift certificate that they can use in the shops, Sarah Pacini and Philippe Dubuc.

“It really is a partnership that is very beneficial”, says the chief Bastien.

But the goal was not just to create distance or to dress up the space,” he explains.

The idea, he said, is “to go a little more in depth on the concept : what is it that we can do to help a little the people around us who have suffered during the pandemic”.

The objective is, at the end, “to a closing event with a fundraiser,” says the chief. “So there will be a silent auction,” with customers “will be able to buy the clothes and then the profits will be donated to a charity, either around the food or around the culture”.

Le Soleil