Remember the presence of Planet Hollywood in Montreal? This theme restaurant, which opened its doors in July 1998 on St. Catherine Street, closed in September 2001 due to the high cost of rent and the lack of interest from customers. The theme restaurant, as its name suggests, is to use the concept of an applied subject to several aspects of the restaurant, that is to say, the menu, the decor, staff and even the clothing musical atmosphere. Its origin dates back to the 1930s, when the United States know the tiki bars, restaurants inspired by the Polynesian style. Despite the failure of Planet Hollywood in Quebec, there are themed restaurants that have stood the test of time. Our file of the month will look at the lives of four of these restaurants. This article will be particularly interested in their infancy.

La Chope Goblin
Located on Avenue Maguire in Quebec City on medieval themed restaurant La Chope Goblin exists since 11 November 2010. Such precision that date would likely be associated with a personal project from the testimony of Anne-Marie Bébard, co-owner of the establishment:

  "[My partner and I] together for ten years now. Our shared passion is medieval and we wanted to try to do something that allowed us to work together. That's how we got the idea to open something that had to do with the medieval. »

Despite their lack of experience in the field of restoration, the idea of opening a restaurant seemed to them to be a good option, as it would reach many people. Before opening their restaurant they visited other restaurants have adopted the same theme as them, including a Medieval Times restaurant franchise in Ontario, but the Inn of the Red Dragon.

L'Auberge du Dragon Rouge Le Cabaret du Roy
It is thanks to an interest in the history and role plays that L'Auberge du Dragon Rouge has been possible in 1992 on Lajeunesse in Montreal. In terms of restaurant experience, its founder, Martin Gauthier tells us have worked at Kentucky Fried Chicken for a year and a half before bursting into laughter. Still, he has conducted research on the history and food for several months.

"We are privileged to the Middle Ages, says Gauthier. There are a lot of cookbooks that have reached us today more or less modified. There was documentation to seek there for inspiration. It is not a museum kitchen, of course, we made an accessible kitchen, based on cooking techniques, spice blends. Menu was developed with medieval sounding. »

This passion for the story subsequently mutated into passion for food. The adventure of the theme restaurant has even continued with the creation of Cabaret du Roy in 2001, a restaurant in Old Montreal on the theme of New France. However, it is not the only one who chose this concept.

The Fourquet Fourchette
In Chambly is Le Fourquet Fourchette, a restaurant that makes a nod to New France by the clothing of personnel as well as the theme menus. Being located next to the National Historic Site Fort Chambly, this theme was a natural choice for this property, open since 1997.

But for Richard Rassi, owner of the restaurant since 2000, this is to go further than a historical theme: "In fact, it is to showcase the traditional bride cooking with beer must. "With extensive experience in catering and accommodation, it offers its customers a menu inspired by the Quebec and Indian cuisine.

At first glance, all these restaurants seem to be similar, but this is not the case. Have they had to adjust along the way to ensure a certain profitability? This is what you will discover in our next article.