Only here do we hear such a discussion. “Exit 11? Isn’t it Brion-La Champenoise? You’re sure ? We bet ? » Thierry, truck driver, almost forty years in the business, holds out his huge hand towards his neighbor who hesitates, suddenly seized with a doubt… It’s August 21, the day of the reopening of L’Escale, the largest truck restaurant in France, one of the largest in Europe. An institution located in Déols, five minutes north of Châteauroux (Indre), created in 1937, opposite the former American air base. The A20 motorway between Montauban and Vierzon, an obligatory passage between Barcelona and Amsterdam, is a few hundred meters away.
Here, up to seven hundred meals are served in a day. L’Escale offers three spaces: the brasserie, the restaurant, two banquet and seminar rooms. Proud of his title of master restorer, Dominique Thomas, 65, owner since 2006, wears handsome, shirt and tie and cowboy boots. “Everything is homemade, the pastry, the fish soup, the butcher’s shop, the breakfasts, and even the fries, 80 kilos a day! », he assures us by showing the place at a run. One of the eighteen cooks and six pastry chefs picks up his phone: ” For Saturday ? fifty people? OK, no problem ! »
Starter-dish-dessert, 24 euros for ordinary mortals and 15.50 euros for drivers who, during the day, are only entitled to a forty-five minute break. The choice is dizzying: at the brasserie, seven starters, eight dishes, seventeen desserts. On the menu, eight other meat dishes and a long list such as the arm of seafood, lobster being the emblem of the house. On August 6, L’Escale closed its doors for two weeks – for the first time in its existence. Blame it on the lack of staff.
“A second home” for drivers
“Last summer, we refused more than 3,000 live meals and I don’t know how many reservations on the phone, it was terrible”, remembers Dominique Thomas, owner and poet in his spare time: there is an entry called “Time passes, hard-boiled eggs”. He imposes the Arte chain on the brewery and affixed to the entrance of the establishment two quotes from Plato and the historian of the XIXe scentury Jules Claretie. “Between the staff holidays and the lack of candidates to work, despite all my efforts, I couldn’t manage it anymore. So this year, starting in February, I anticipated and decided that we were going to close. » He is not the only one to observe that “People no longer want to do a job they consider so restrictive”. In April, Pôle Emploi noted that “café and restaurant server” was the most sought-after profession by employers.
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