Please make yourself comfortable and prepare for a brief trip around the world as we invite you to discover the restaurants that will be present at the Festival des traditions du monde de Sherbrooke. Also, we will summarize the saga of beef tartars that is going on in New Brunswick and we will come back to the labor shortage once again.
So let's start with this little world tour, as the organizers of the 24th edition of the Festival des traditions du monde de Sherbrooke (FTMS) unveiled their plan for the face-to-face activities scheduled for August 12 to 15. In addition to the shows, a gastronomic section draws the crowds running every year.
For the 2021 edition, five restaurants from around the world will offer their specialties to the public at the Marché de la Gare in Sherbrooke, on Sunday August 15 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
- Guacamole y Tequila will introduce Mexico
- Persepolis, Iran
- Gourmet Traditions), the Serbian Republic
- Beirut, Lebanon
Please note that places are limited and you must purchase (free) tickets via the Festival website.
Now let's move on to the tartars. New Brunswick public health officials have visited restaurants across the province in recent weeks and told chefs that it is now illegal to serve beef below 63 degrees Celsius. This temperature level corresponds to a medium-rare steak.
That’s the end of the beef tartars in the province of New Brunswick! Some adjustments to the rules developed in 2020 have just taken effect and a dozen restaurants have received this ban, which also affects pork and poultry. With regard to fish, specific policies are already in place.
Do you believe that this rule should also be applied in Quebec?
Finally, we must once again talk about the labor shortage. Because in addition to having to continually seek employees because the competitor around the corner offers better conditions, other restaurants have to live with a significant wave of quits caused by a career change.
It seems normal to want to take a different career path when, over the past year, some employees have been laid off more than once due to government restrictions. Instability forces many to change fields.
To overcome this exodus, as much as possible, the MTY Group is asking the Government of Quebec for the possibility of facilitating the sharing of tips between servers and other employees. This tip sharing is only possible with their unanimous support. "We're not asking for a 50-50 split, but we would like to be able to give them a little bit to recognize their contribution to the customer experience. It would make cooking jobs more interesting. "
It would also represent a form of justice for kitchen workers, according to Mr. Lefebvre. “Like the servers, they contribute to the customer experience, but do not receive tips. Servers are also at an advantage, as their tips increase as prices increase. It creates a form of imbalance. "
