VSow can you go from four covers a day to a full house while even refusing people? Micael Benoit found the recipe, it appears roughly on a slate placed on the sidewalk opposite his restaurant: “Anti-crisis menu”. Since mid-March, he has been concocting a full starter-main course-dessert meal at La Pagaille (with two choices each time) for 10 euros, or 8 euros for the starter-main course or main course-dessert formula. Here, we serve almost only fresh products, which we transform if necessary before putting them on the plate.
Example this Wednesday noon: in the sink, a large pot is filled with fries waiting to be dipped in oil. Result of five kilos of potatoes peeled by hand and cut lengthwise the same morning. They will accompany a flank steak prepared a few minutes before in beautiful slices, ready to be grilled over the flames of a kamado, a Japanese barbecue placed under a large extractor hood. “All the great chefs now have them”, proudly presents the cook. And those who put off red meat can always fall back on a scallop with cream that simmers right next to it in a saucepan, with green beans.
The new canteen
But by the way, do you eat well in exchange for a 10 euro note? To the many plates returned empty in the kitchen and to the smiles of the customers, obviously it’s yes. “This value for money, I have never found better! enthuses Catherine, surrounded by three friends. “At this price, we can’t be too demanding, we expect something not terrible and yet, there, it’s good, regaled Thierry. I feel that it will become my canteen very quickly! »
A “canteen” already adopted in particular by employees of the nearby town hall. “We no longer ask ourselves questions before going to a restaurant, and it’s easier to invite someone because we don’t ruin ourselves! 10 euros today is what we put in more to fill up the car and, finally, we realize that it represents a meal. Yes, our full has increased with a good meal! »
This calculation is precisely the one made by Micael Benoit when he decided to offer this low cost formula. “In February, when all the prices rose everywhere, we said to ourselves that in France, it is not normal that we cannot eat for cheap, except in fast food. Our idea is therefore to prove that you can eat well for lunch and dinner for 10 euros. If the bet is successful, it requires some gymnastics. “I don’t count my time”, recognizes this father of five children, up at dawn for the preparation because, in addition to catering (lunch and dinner), La Pagaille is also a bar open all day.
It is also thanks to drinks and coffees that the cash register is filled (30% of the final bill). For the rest, you have to juggle prices to generate a small margin. “It has to cost me 4 euros or 4.50 € per meal, but if I buy ready-made desserts, for example, it’s already 3.50 €. There, I make them myself and it only costs 50 cents, the same for the starters, and for the main course, it’s 3.50 € maximum. It’s very hot, but we’re getting there! We work with local producers and I have a supplier who can find me fish at 12 euros per kilo or spider crabs at 5 euros per kilo. »
“I’m aiming for the minimum wage”
And that’s how La Pagaille is on the way to becoming one of the most popular tables in the seaside resort without even being on the Remblai! Despite this, his boss, who rents the walls, has not particularly enriched himself. Never mind, “my goal is not to earn a lot but to please myself and please people,” he says. Since I took over the business, in May 2021, I have not paid myself a salary, today it is changing, and I am aiming for a minimum wage.
The spring holidays, then those of summer will be an important revealer. It will be time, then, to take stock with the accountant. “We will manage to recover our costs”, assures Micael Benoit. From May, it will slightly increase its price to 12 euros. An inflation that should not drive away customers who are more and more loyal to the concept and put a little butter in the spinach. Home-prepared spinach, of course…