As the Covid-19 pandemic continues, FRANCE 24 stands in solidarity with industries hard hit by the crisis. After devoting a day of coverage to the struggling culture sector – beset by museum and cinema closures and a long hiatus on live performances – FRANCE 24 turns its attention to another industry that, in normal times, is part of France's raison d'être: its restaurants.
As restaurateurs in France see the horizon for reopening their establishments retreating ever further into the distance – not foreseen before mid-February, Prime Minister Jean Castex said Thursday – FRANCE 24 is showcasing French cuisine in all its forms and flavours, with reports and interviews from an industry hungry to get back to business as usual.
French food industry during pandemic: Restaurants reeling from months of forced closure
FRANCE 24's James André discovers the challenges facing Paris restaurateurs and the help they are receiving to stave off closing for good.
'It's just been about survival': French restaurants to remain closed until at least mid-February
Aurélien Pasquier has owned the Caminito Cabaret for six years and opened a second restaurant just before the pandemic struck. With the Covid-19 lockdown, turnover is down 60 percent and the focus every day is on survival. FRANCE 24's Héloïse Mélan, Erika Olavarria and Fraser Jackson report.
'It's deeply frustrating,' owner of British brasserie in Paris says amid Covid-19 lockdown
"We've lost a lot of money," says Oliver Woodhead, owner of L'Entente, Le British Brasserie, in central Paris. "And don't forget, this came right on the back of the general strike here in France, for two months... Paris was very deflated." He tells FRANCE 24 that the the French state has been "more than generous" to restaurateurs struggling during this difficult stretch.
The impact of the pandemic on French food, tourism industries
FRANCE 24's Christopher Moore is in the Paris neighbourhood of Montmartre to tell us more about the effect of perpetual uncertainty on restaurateurs as the pandemic continues.
