212 Montréal

What Happens to Restaurants That Wanted to Open This Spring? | Eater Montreal

"I observed that the province-wide lockdown from March 23 wiped out the buzz for the planned opening, putting construction on hold and leaving the team to continue paying staff with no income; Brooke Walsh, co-owner of nightclub École Privée and the forthcoming Old Montreal Italian restaurant 212, says it was "quite tough and scary" and that they "essentially lost all of our momentum," forcing them to "start all over again." Walsh is watching the news "like a hawk" and plans to take full advantage of government supports — including the federal wage subsidy covering up to 75% of workers’ wages — and his landlord has agreed to a "pay what you can" approach to rent, which helps, but he calls it "unjust" that small businesses are still required to pay rent and wants a freeze on all rent payments until the crisis is over." - Audrey Carleton