Montreal restaurant plans to reopen in defiance of COVID-19 restrictions – Montreal | The Canadian News

The manager of Kesté Pizzeria is fed up with the COVID-19 lockdown.

He plans to reopen his full-service restaurant for customers on Jan. 30, despite current COVID-19 restrictions that prohibit restaurants from reopening.

“Sometimes you can’t follow all the rules,” Luigi Esposito, manager of Kesté Pizzeria, told Global News.

His restaurant, like many others in Quebec, has been closed for most of the last 22 months due to strict sanitary measures imposed by the government to try to contain the spread of COVID-19.

But Esposito’s patience is wearing thin.

“We have been patient and it has not worked. It’s time to change that,” he said.

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COVID-19: Quebec bars and restaurants push to reopen to fully vaccinated public

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Kesté’s Facebook page has been lighting up with the reaction, with many people commenting in favor of the planned reopening on January 30.

However, Health Minister Christian Dubé on Thursday warned the restaurant owner and business owners to refrain from opening before they are legally authorized.

“I would just ask the owner of this restaurant and all the other merchants to be patient. I know it’s hard,” Dubé said.

Esposito says it will have plexiglass partitioning tables, but plans to open at full capacity and won’t require proof of vaccinations.

“If we lose our liquor permit, if we get heavy fines, obviously it’s not something we want, it’s not something we look forward to, but if it happens, it happens,” Esposito said.

A spokesman for the Quebec Restaurant Association argues that Esposito and the customers who eat there are exposing themselves to liability.

“Customers themselves will be subject to fines and perhaps an order to close the shop,” Martin Vézina told Global News.

Vézina is calling on the government to allow restaurants to reopen before January 31, but Esposito is not waiting that long, with plans to start serving customers on January 30.


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COVID-19: Quebec bars and restaurants push to reopen to fully vaccinated public


COVID-19: Quebec bars and restaurants push to reopen to fully vaccinated public – January 5, 2022

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