Poutine, an emblematic dish in Quebec, has caused some setbacks since the start of the war in Ukraine at Les Poutinistes restaurant in Strasbourg, which specializes in this tangy dish, some see as a play made out of place with the Russian president’s name.
“It’s amazing what’s happening to us,” says Christoph Vlegans, director of the case, which opened in 2019, and estimates that “between 30 and 50%” turnover has decreased since the start of the conflict.
While takeaway sales on delivery platforms of this specialty based on french fries, cheese and brown sauce worked well, especially with students, “things changed very quickly” after the invasion of Ukraine began. By Russia Vladimir Putin on February 24, 2022 recalled.
Elsewhere in France, other restaurants serving the same dish, notably in Toulouse and Paris, have begun to “be harassed,” explains Mr. Flegans.
“we have been insulted”
At first, Putin’s Strasbourg followers were only entitled to “a few comments on social networks, nothing more,” continues the restaurateur.
The company then decided to add the “Canadian flag symbol” next to the word “poutine” on the delivery platforms.
But a little later in the year, during events where they served the famous Quebec dish, things got worse: “We were insulted several times,” says Mr. Flegans.
Recognizing that these people constitute a “minority”, recalls the manager:
The decline in Poutine’s sales, undoubtedly exacerbated by the inflationary context encouraging consumers to “pay more attention” to their spending, prompted the restaurant to look for other solutions.
“A couple of months ago we launched bowls of French fries with different sauces,” explains Mr. Fliegans, in short, derivatives of “poutine without being poutine.”
“At the moment it is going well but it does not have the same effect as Putin,” admits the restaurateur from Strasbourg, who is trying to console himself: Putin was there before Vladimir Putin and will be there after him, “that’s for sure”.
