The Restos Plaisirs Group, owner of the Cochon Dingue branches in Quebec City, among others, intends to accelerate its development in the Montreal region thanks to the partnership it has entered into with the Grandio Group.
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Groupe Sportscene, owner of La Cage, announced on Tuesday that it is becoming Groupe Grandio. It will bring together several players from the restaurant industry in Quebec. The Restos Plaisirs Group is one of them, as are Stéphane Riopel (Chez Lionel and IRU Izakaya) and Rémy Couture from Crémy Pâtisserie.
For Pierre Moreau, president and CEO of Restos Plaisirs, it is a group of restaurateurs who join forces.
“At Restos Plaisirs, we keep our independence. Our management team remains in place. It does not change anything for our employees, but we will benefit from synergy and levers to accelerate the development of all our brands,” explained Mr. Moreau.
“My associates and I are becoming shareholders of the Grandio Group. The Restos Plaisirs Group will now be part of the Grandio Group. I will continue to have a stake in the Restos Plaisirs Group as I will have a stake in the Grandio Group,” he said.
Each player shares the same vision, he says, which is to develop brands, keep them in Quebec and encourage Quebec suppliers.
In the case of Restos Plaisirs, the project to open establishments in Montreal has been part of the plans for several years.
“We are going to recover the three years that we lost [à cause de la pandémie] and with the skills of my partners, their knowledge of the Montreal market and their knowledge of landlords, it will be easier for us to identify sites and start planning our expansion, mainly at Le Cochon Dingue, in the greater Montreal,” said Mr. Moreau.
After the pandemic, this restaurateur believes that the Restos Plaisirs Group had no choice but to rethink its business model to ensure its sustainability.
“We got through the pandemic because we are a solid group with a good structure. We had money in the bank account to help us get through this. But, I quickly realized that if I had been bigger, it would have been even easier, especially to get out of the pandemic.
The first Cochon Dingue in Montreal could open its doors before the end of 2023.
The Grandio Group is already at the head of La Cage – Brasserie sportive et Moishes, which counts among the main shareholders the businessman Jean Bédard and the Champlain Financial Corporation.
